City Council 02/24/2026

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Worcester City Council meeting. If you can stand, please stand for the pledge of allegiance and the size of the spangled banner.

of the United States of America, and to the top of the list. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed At the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight On the ramparts we watch

were so gallantly streaming and the rocket's red glare the bombs bursting in air They proved through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

and the home of the brave.

Do a roll call.

Councilor Bergman. Here. Councilor Bilotta. Here. Councilor Economou.

Here.

Council for Solo? Here. Councilor King?

Here.

Councilor Mitra? Here. Councilor Ojeda?

Here.

Councilor Rivera? Here. Councilor Rosen? Here. Councilor Toomey?

Here. And Mayor Petty? Here. Okay, we have election, the first item up is election of the city clerk to a two year term. Roll call? Roll call?

Councilor Bergman?

Yes.

Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo?

Yes.

Councilor King?

Yes.

Councilor Mitra? Yes. Ojeda, Rivera, Rosen, Toomey, and Mayor Petty.

Yes, 6A, the City Council, if I approve the minutes of the City Council meeting on February 3rd, roll call. Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta?

Yes. Councilor Economou.

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo.

Yes.

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

Yes. Public participation. Before that, we're gonna hold item 16A, which is the Housing Development Certified Project Application under privilege. So it'll come up for the next council meeting.

Who's holding it?

What's that? I am. Some people couldn't make it tonight in the assassins. Just asking. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

So 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 City 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 on all items to one appearance at the microphone. The time for speaking shall not exceed two minutes for any one speaker or 30 minutes for all speakers. Rule 40, Petitions. On the first occasion any petition appears on the City Council agenda, the Prime Petition may address the City Council for no more than three minutes on the subject of their petition.

Okay, so you have two minutes. Is your name Seed Residence and the item number you're speaking on?

Certainly, Fred Nathan Worcester. Item number 13D. the item about the spectrum cable. At some point in time, the city manager has to hold spectrum to agreements that were made way back when cable came into the city. There is a lot they've been getting away with and the city manager you just tell them all to go pound sand because they have been screwing the city of Worcester and the elderly people in Worcester and they've been taking advantage of the fact that they are the only game in town. It's good to see Verizon Files putting a dent into them. Next item. I know you can't really say anything about this, but I just want to remind people. 9A.

I know you're going to be going to an executive session afterwards, but I just want to remind people history here. This is something similar to this, but obviously different. When the city hospital story broke some 40 years ago, I was here that night until two o'clock in the morning. The mayor went into executive session with the council six times. They thought they had to straighten out and they kept on going back in. When he came out and he finally banged the gavel, two o'clock in the morning, I was the only one here. outside of the clerk, the manager, the mayor, and the council. What it all stems from is the city hospital was double billing to the point of like $30 million, which they had to pay back over I don't know how many years, it's too bad, but at some point in time the city has to do something with the item that you guys are gonna be discussing. Maybe talk to them, maybe they'll agree for less money. I don't know how many years ago it was 15 million.

It stands at that 35 million dollars. It's not gonna go away.

Is your name C. Reznor?

Andrew Marsh, 212 May Street in Worcester. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, I rise to speak on agenda item 13N. Mr. Mayor, the security theater added to City Hall is something I have never approved of and I don't approve of them now. Having to have your belongings scanned and searched and being asked where you're going and for what purpose you're entering City Hall is not only a waste of time and money, it's also insulting. For comparison, when I enter the Massachusetts State House in Boston, I never get asked and I'm never expected to answer what my purpose is or where I'm planning to go. I seem to get told to have a good day after I enter the premises. and if by chance there is an incident, local security is able to act on a case by case basis. To be automatically put under scrutiny, to have to justify entering a municipal building upon entry is ridiculous. Municipal buildings like City Hall and the Public Library are public spaces.

It is not, nor should it be, anyone's business what I am doing inside it. If for whatever reason I wanted nothing more than to sit on one of the benches in City Hall and read a book, I should not have to justify myself to security. The fact that I am expected to, it is insulting as a resident of this city. As such, I demand that our recent security measures be defunded and stripped away. To permit their continued existence only serves to intimidate people and make them less likely to contribute in our community and its civics. make public spaces welcoming to the public again. I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you. Next speaker, and is your name C. Resenson, item number?

Abby Mortillero, she, her, Worcester resident, District 4. I'll go with 17, I'll start with 17B. I think it's important to have commissions for black people and LGBTQIA. I want to see this city looking out for minority people. 21A and 21C combined, because they're both regarding housing and rent control and an office of Housing Stability is important, you know, because keeping people in their homes and, you know, keeping rent control, you know, is important. You know, so many people

We need the city to look out for that and also about what the I was saying before about the security measures. I mean, yeah, I do believe it is kind of excessive. And you can loosen up on those security measures. So there's time. I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna speak on 21D, systemic racism. Yeah, systemic racism. You know, that's a problem that needs to be, you know, addressed. And, you know, I'd like, you know, take that item off the table, you know, and discuss it, you know. You know, I can speak on the same table as I am. and this one, yeah, speaking on this one, systemic racism is a problem, so yeah, definitely, and you know,

want to see the city look out for minorities, you know, go back to rent control, keep people in their homes, and also, yeah, loosen up the security measures. Sorry.

Thank you. Should the MC residents item number?

This is item 13L.

Did your name say residence?

My name is Bob Bassett. I'm a resident of Grafton. This is some background information for the new members of the city council. Back in 2015, thanks, we received a letter from Cameron Greenwood, the Veterans Director. It was in regards to the phase two of the present World War II Memorial at City Hall. Worcester sent 24,000 soldiers off to war. 783 of them died. the letter stated that there were 265 deceased soldiers that did not meet the criteria to have their names on that monument. What do you mean they didn't meet the criteria? They died while in service to their country, and their parents, siblings, and family never saw them again. My uncle, Bernard Bazinet, was one of those soldiers. Bernard had a story. He was only 25 years old, a great hockey player, and one of four brothers who fought for his country,

and only three returned. He is buried in Epinal American Cemetery in France. There are 264 other stories for these soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Our request is in regards to creating a new memorial or adding to an existing monument for those World War II veterans who died while serving their country, but are not recognized anywhere in the city because they died non-battle. My wife and I have been presenting this project to the Council for almost four years. This is the fifth time I've been approached to the City Council. Every time we have spoken to the City Council, the item has been adopted unanimously. It has been very frustrating over the past several years to have to return to speak to the City Council again, but there was never any movement on this issue. There seems to be a disconnect between what happens at the City Council and the advancement of this memorial.

We spoke with Councilor Priscilla last year, who at that time was the Chairperson of the Veterans Memorial's Mark Parks and Recreation Committee. she outlined several factors that needed to occur. I'd like to continue, Mr. Mayor, if you.

You have to suspend the rules, all those, okay, go ahead.

Thank you. She outlined several factors that needed to occur, mainly the implementation of design, contracting, and funding. Councilor Pacillo stated that she, as well as us, should contact Commissioner Antonelli's team to inquire as to where in the process is this project. When we contacted the office, they said they had never heard of this matter. This is by no means our expertise. We were naive in our thinking that the unanimous acceptance by the City Council was the end all be all. What can we or you do to help us with the progression of this monument? We have not been invited to any of the Veterans Memorials, Parks, and Recreation Committee's meetings in the last two years. There was some discussion with this issue when Alex Arriaga was the Director of the Veterans Services and I understand that he is now the Interim Director. Also, I believe Adam Costello at the Veterans Services had made some attempts with vendors for design and placement of the memorial.

In past years, I have mentioned that there was a monument at the Memorial Grove at Green Hill Park that recognizes 379 veterans from Worcester who died in World War I. This memorial does not distinguish how they died, whether it be killed in action or non-battle while serving their country. Therefore, once again, I am asking the City of Worcester to find a way to recognize these 265 deserving soldiers of World War II. None of these worthy servicemen returned home to the City of Worcester to pursue their life's dreams. My wife and I will continue to pursue this monument because it is the right thing to do. I am sure that every member of the City Council feels the same way that these soldiers should not be forgotten. It is the least we can do to respect their memory. What can all of us do to advance this memorial? And finally, my wife and I would like to thank Councilor Bergman for his continued support of this project. Thank you very much.

Thank you. to go online on this. I'm sorry, we have another person.

Rosen, Tom Marino on 13B. Excellent order. Excellent order, Councilor Rosen. I recently was on some correspondence that gave me some insight into the volume of public records requests that the city receives, and it's quite overwhelming. and I'm sure the solicitor doesn't have lawyers laying around to just throw out the problem. So that leads to a backlog and I try to remain patient for my stuff. The city, however, implemented a strategy at the start of this year where it's going to charge what the law allows them to charge for records that are, because of the backlog, primarily late. and so on. And compounding the problem is that we seem to be less transparent with what is attached to agendas than we were just a few years ago. For example, I looked at the Citizen Advisory Committee agenda, and that now just says, consider candidates. There used to be names and resumes.

and it's kind of pointless to follow a meeting when people are looking at documents and you can't see them. So this all combines into a deep back, significant weight for some public records. And I'm less patient now that you want me to pay. I think that this is an outstanding order. People that are watching meetings at home should be able to follow along with the meeting and see what meeting participants are viewing. And this would be a great step toward broader transparency. And if you don't agree with me, I do not think you should recuse yourself because I don't live in my own cult of personality.

Nobody online?

There it is. Mr. Mayor, we have one calling user. Try to meet the calling user now. David, try to meet the resident now. Please state your name, city of residence, and the item you're calling on.

David Webb Olympia, are you able to hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Okay, one moment, I'm switching my app. Okay, in regards to police data, just like they don't actually document reports of hate crimes, your police don't document many crimes reported, Simply put, this report is deceptive and misleading bullshit. 1115A, the increase in fines for illegal dumping. I just want to remind the public and the council The City of Worcester has an interdepartmental scapegoat called the Quality of Life Task Force. Sorry, so-called. Quality of Life Task Force. It's run by Dan Cahill. In addition to hunting the unhoused community and ensuring they cannot maintain the community of their own, Eric Batista made a whole presentation saying that they kept the city clean and that picking up large junk was one of their main responsibilities. not hunting the homeless people. I think this motion is yet another clear indicator that the millions a year your taxpayers spend on their payroll is a waste of money and has not improved Worcester. I'm in strong support of 13B, asking the city manager to make attention to everything Tom said.

I've spoken about it before, the law department under Alexander Kalkounis with the new record access officer, Michael Manning. has a bad faith pattern of practice of unlawfully withholding body-worn camera records and others. This accountability of avoiding behavior is able to be maintained by citing excuses about their workload. A well-managed city would make efforts to reduce that workload and increase transparency, but Worcester isn't a well-managed city and hasn't recognized, because it has recognized that being transparent opens it up to lawsuits that it isn't prepared to handle. In the same vein, 13N, yes please, assess all physical, digital, and operational barriers. Worcester is ahead of the curve in one way, fascism. Its proud history of corruption has resulted in a well-established Chamber of Commerce working closely with city government to limit transparency and access. The increased security was, like many other changes, to reduce access to the public. I, of all people, can say it didn't keep anyone safe, and they did not bother to arrest the guy when he assaulted me at City Hall, so they don't really care about that anyways.

Are you guys the best managed city in the nation yet?

Okay, seeing nobody else, we'll go back to the agenda. First item up is... Excuse me, Mr. Chairman.

I'm sorry, can I just ask you what item you held?

Oh, 16A? 16A, thank you. We are on 8A, hearing on National Grid for condo location at Kingsbury Street. Our motion is to open the hearing, roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? and Mayor Petty.

Yes. Anybody oppose this item? Seeing nobody opposed, the motion is to adopt the item and to close the hearing. Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Yes. Councilor Economou. Yes. Councilor Solo.

Yes.

Councilor King.

Yes.

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

Yes. 9-8 will come back to at the end of the meeting. Okay, 10A, we're gonna refer to the Planning Board. 10B, we're gonna refer to Public Works. 10C through 10S, we refer to Traffic and Parking. We can sit. Also, we have a hearing for March 10th, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. for a condo location on Windsor Street. Take a collector on the roll call. Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? and Mayor Petty.

and the Manager's Calendar, which is 11.10a, Transmitting Information and Communication with the Greenhill Park Community Guidance and Planning Application. The motion is to refer to Veterans and Parks. Bergman?

Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Economou. Yes. Fresolo.

Yes.

King. Yes. Mitra.

Yes.

Ojeda. Yes. Rivera. Yes. Rosen. Yes. Toomey. Yes.

And Mayor Petty. Yes. And I transfer information and communication rove to the 2026 Arbor Day. Send that to Veterans and Parks. We'll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou. Yes. Councilor Fresolo.

Yes.

Councilor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra. Yes. Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey.

Yes. And Mayor Petty. Yes. Next item is transmitting information and communication of the report listing of all permitted festivals in 2025 that include permit fees paid by each applicant and whether any funds are currently owed. Questions on that? So send that to committee for a hearing. And Mr. Resolves, so send that to your committee, roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta?

Yes.

Councilor Economou.

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo.

Yes.

Councilor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra.

Yes.

Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey.

Yes. And Mayor Petty. Yes, we are at 11.13a, Public Safety, Transmitting Information and Communication. We have the 2025 in-report on crime stats. Councilor Toomey, followed by Councilor Ojeda.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As Chair of Public Safety, I want to just make a comment that this data shows meaningful progress. and in 2025, the city of Worcester has seen a serious reduction in serious violent crime, including homicides and shootings. These numbers represent lives saved and Safer Neighborhoods, and they reflect the hard work of our police officers, our public safety partners, our community, and the leadership of the Chief of Police. He's done a remarkable job. and I'm very proud to know that he continues to lead with with dignity and the best interest of the City of Worcester residents at heart. At the same time, it doesn't mean that the work is done and we need to continue.

Public safety is not just about statistics, it's about people's experiences. And moving forward, we'll continue focusing on data-driven policing, police prevention, youth intervention and transparency to ensure every neighborhood in Worcester feels safe. And I look forward to discussing this further in committee, but I do think it needs to be said that with the leadership of the chief we wouldn't have had these these statistics as they are I think the crime gun unit had played a large role in this as well as a lot of the community policing programs and also the program where the officers actually get out into the community. So I want to thank the Chief. I look forward to further discussions about this. And congratulations to Chief and all the police officers in our police department. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Hayter.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So I have a few questions. I'm hoping maybe to the Chair, to the Chief, you can help me out. So I really do appreciate knowing that there is a downward trend in our community when it comes to a lot of The violence and things that have been taking place. My question to the Chair, to the Chief is, I know we have mentioned this before about the conversations in the neighborhoods, stuff like that. And I've asked several times, what are those conversations? what are those, if there's common themes throughout the district, throughout the city. As a city councilor, that's something that I really feel as though it's important for us councilors, as district councilors, to get a better understanding of what are those conversations in order to support you, the department,

and also the residents to really understand who they should be contacting, who we need to talk to when it comes to certain situations. I go to a lot of neighborhood meetings and I'll sit in meetings where residents think it's on the quality of life team or inspectional services or if it's on the police department but if I don't have this information from the people that are The police officer I was having the conversations with, how can I better help both parties? So do the cheer to the chief. Again, is there a way I can get that information? through the chair of the councilor.

The best way to capture that is actually by, and I've seen you at the community meeting, so you are there. We do keep a journal after each one. So if there's something that has to do with drug activity, our journal will indicate attention to the vice squad to deal with that situation. If it's traffic, then the traffic division's notified. So we do have copies of that, it's electronic, and that's saved forever.

But I guess, I'm sorry, what I'm referring to the Chair, to the Chief is, the officers, they're getting out their vehicles, they're having conversations. What are those conversations like? How do I, again, how do I support them? How do I get information back and forth? to the residents, to the city manager, just to the departments in the city to help each other and be transparent.

Through the chair of the council, again, they'll come back and they'll tell their supervisor if there's something that's needed immediately, then they can address that. As far as getting that information to you, I believe the best format would be for them to transfer that information to the community officer and then they can bring that as part of their agenda and we can make that change and do that okay I I appreciate that also um

You know it says here that They've run, you guys have run, the city has run, WPD, I'm sorry, education initiatives with every sixth grade health class to teach students about making healthy choices regarding drug awareness and getting involvement. Is it possible to get us a list through the chair to the chief or to the city manager to get us a list of what those schools are? In my district alone, There's four, I'm sorry, there's seven schools that again, that are in my district. So I'm really interested to see, again, what are ways I can get some more of this information out because it's great that it's happening in the schools, but we're not sure if it's getting back into the homes. And I think that's the most important part. How are we having those conversations? Are we sure that those kids are bringing those conversations back to their homes? back into the neighborhoods, back to the Boys and Girls Club or wherever they're at. How are we making sure that these conversations are continuing to grow?

I know you had the police dialogue and things like that, but it's good to know this is happening. but again, I'd like to know if it's happening in the schools in the district or just have you guys been able to get to all the schools this year?

Chief? through the chair of the council, we've done, we actually do every sixth grade class, health class within the Worcester public school system twice a year. So we do an initial and then we come back to make sure that message went out and again to address any other questions that they may have.

Okay, all right, thank you. And then lastly, you know, I worked with the Boise Ghosts for many, many, many years and I remember the gang unit being involved in the summer programs and they offered the At the time it was four weeks of the summer and now I see it's three weeks. Is there a reason why it went from three to four and is there something that we could do to continue it to four?

through the chair of the council, as long as I can remember, it's been three weeks, it's 300 kids. So it's 100 kids per week, first three weeks of July. To my recollection, I don't believe we've done four weeks. Okay, I could be wrong. I know it's 300. Yeah, yeah, I remember that.

We used to go every summer, and every week we'd send a different group of kids, so that would go. Is there, do the chair, to the chief, is there anything within that program that you feel as though we could do better? How do we expand it? How do we grow it? It's great. I was part of the police dialogues before. and a lot of students wanted to take back and run something similar in their schools, but they weren't able to. Again, you're doing the summer program. How do we continue it, right? We're doing it. just during the summertime and then you do the sixth grade. But how do we continue with this program where we can continue it throughout the school year or even throughout the year? If you have any ideas.

through the chair of the council, we're also starting this year going into seventh grade classrooms as well. So we are expanding what we're doing. As far as the game camp, that's tough because Our officers have to work too. So usually that's paid through different grants to have the officers go there. to get the different people. We'll bring a helicopter, and we'll do different things. We'll take them on trips to the zoo. I've been to the zoo with 100 kids, and that was an experience.

so what comes to mind is if there's a way through the chair probably to the city manager as well you know with the funding if there's a way during school vacations we can try to implement some of this Community Efforts. The Boys and Girls Club would be a good place. The YMCA. When school's out, these parents need these kids to go somewhere because they still have to work. I think it would be great to run some type of program during school vacations, a 9 to 12, 9 to 1. I'm pretty sure can provide lunches. So I think it's another way just to continue showing that we're in our communities, we're trying to get more engagement and prepare for the summer as well. So if there's a way, Thank you. With that, a formal motion? Yes, please.

Okay.

Economou.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Through the Chair to the Chief. Chief, great report. You know, it's really 16 to 2 in homicides. Just the bust that you guys had a couple of weeks I don't know if it was last week or the prior week, we had a table full of firearms that have come off the streets. You know, it's very impressive. I commend you, I commend your leadership, and more importantly, the men and women out there doing the job. You know, they're putting their lives at stake. doing these raids and what have you. So I greatly appreciate that. My only comments would be, similar to the lines of Councilor Ojeda, too, on just what more we can add to our youth. As you say, as many officers say, if we can catch them at a young age, we have better results so I would just look at that and then the other thing that I would look at too something that I get asked upon

multiple multiple times and if it's something that needs to change here that needs to be brought here to the City Council to the manager would be speed enforcement especially as it pertains in the neighborhoods it's rampant and I know we only have so many People in Traffic Division that can do the job. But if there's something that needs to be brought forth to augment that, I certainly would be in favor of looking at it. So congratulations. Congratulations to the men and women of the department. I'm certainly proud to be a Worcesterite. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, we have, next we have, what's that? We have Mitra, followed by Councilor King, followed by Councilor Bilotta. Is your mic on? I'm sorry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, through you to Mr. Chief. Thank you so very much for the report you have produced and it's really very satisfying to see that everything is really downward. That's what we like to see for the city as Our managers say that we want to make this city a comfortable, safe and livable city and that's certainly your team and you are making that effort for people to come here and live and do business as well as raise families. Thank you for all that effort that you have made and your team. The only question that I have is if you really look at the numbers you have given and so on. My question was that is there any shortfall that you face? Is there anything that you need from us more, manpower-wise, or the law and order officer-wise, or equipment-wise, anything in that?

so that you can bring it further down. That was my question. If you can find that out and let us know, maybe we can see what we can do to fund you more or give you the opportunity to really make this city more safer. Thank you.

Chief?

Through the Chair of the Council, right now it's a personnel issue as far as keeping, retaining, and recruiting new officers. We're currently down around 58 right now. Our goal is to stay consistent so that we can keep these these type of crime stats the way they are. And the way we do that is Number one, the operations officers, the officers in uniform on the street. That's the backbone of the department. They're out there every day going to 911 calls. Then we have our non-uniform officers, who do conduct investigations. What happens is if we get down to a certain level, then those investigative units are gonna get smaller. and we have to put those officers in uniform. So a lot of the follow up, like the gun unit, that would go away because we wouldn't have the officers

We would not have the time to be able to actually go out. Those officers right there, there'll be a gunshot call. They'll follow it up for six months, and they'll make an arrest after six months. You couldn't do that before. So we do not want to see that dry up because it's imperative to having a safe city.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. And as I said, if there's anything that you need more, let us know. And your new program, that short spot program that you have, how is that working?

through the chair of the council. That program's working great. What happens is, again, that gun unit can follow up on every shots fired call, not only that comes in through 911, but comes in within that eight mile radius that we have. So a lot of times you may never hear of that call. And now these officers are going out. They're getting data. They're getting cameras. They're going around talking to witnesses. and they're making cases. So it's important. You can't make a case if you don't get the call. So that's why that's very important.

Well, I'm always for the modernizing of everything that you have. As I said, tremendous job. Congratulations to you and your team. And anything more we can do for you to bring it further down and make this city more safer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Worcester is certainly seeing a downward trend. Not just this year, I think this might be the second or third year that we've said it or more, talking about and others, positive decreases and declinations in public safety and violent crimes. and Homicides. But overall, over the last few years, we have been seeing some positive trends. We also know that national data shows that across cities nationally that there's similar trends moving downward in these domains. They're dropping sharply. So it's good to see that that's occurring here as well. The data also shows that there's really a challenge to define any single cause for those declines in statistics. What we do know

is that public trust is a major component of this. We do know that police strategies and operations are a major form of this. And the thing that I've always said, in these meetings to Chief Saucier and his predecessors is let's not hang our hat on the data. Let's hang our hat on relationships, building trust, improving operations and procedures, and making sure that folks understand that crimes aren't solved in a vacuum. It always requires and often requires community involvement. Mr. Chairman, Sustaining these shifts is what's most important. As we continue the trend, we know that the data shows that post-pandemic, that there's been an impact, the impact of the labor market, the impact of police strategies. All of these things are in place.

but it really requires continued community trust, continued smart strategies in order to sustain Mr. Chim. I'd just like to hear from the Chief regarding, you know, the critical components here. We know about the new Gun Investigation Program. We know about those various. Chief.

Through the Chair of the Council, again, we have, you know, when we look at our community policing programs, having the officers get out of their vehicles, engage the community 30 minutes a day. That's huge because that builds trust. We also have our youth programs. We work with the cities. Department of Youth Initiatives that we have these meetings every quarter. and we have everybody at the table that comes together and talks about how we can help these kids. A new program we just started and we came on with the Massachusetts Youth Diversion Program which is a state funded through DYS program that

any youth 12 to 18 years old, the police can now divert them to a program where they have to finish this in order to have a clean record. And it's different things from Mental Health, Awareness, 32% of the programs help develop that. We have education support, cognitive behavior therapy. Some of them actually write a letter of apology. and we also have family programming. That's all part of the diversion program and that's something that's come up in the past that we wanted to start. The DA's on board, the judges are on board, but ultimately it's up to them on what happens with one of these kids. So we now have that ability that we can say, we can do it post arrest or prior to arrest. just like issuing a citation.

If we want to give somebody a warning or write them a ticket, the officer has a discretion. This is the same. And this just started up in January. So I think that's another huge thing.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

I just want to add something because it was actually something that came up this morning and the Chief can add a little bit to it. We were both in a Teams meeting this morning with a bunch of community partners, community agencies, community leaders, and stakeholders. and one of the things that we were discussing and kicking off today was a new program that we've had in the city since 20 probably 2020 We started a program called Handle With Care. What it means is working with a DA's office, public safety individuals or police officers when they report to a case or a situation, a traumatic situation that an individual is involved, a young person is involved. they communicate that to the schools it's a simple information of their name and basically saying handle with care so that the schools can be equipped to provide that kind of support in that warm handoff, because some of these individuals are involved in fires and in many different situations.

And so what we launched today was that we're now including adolescents, youth, kids into the mix. and as part of this effort, we're the first in the state to launch this and kick this off to these young folks. And that's all to the partnership of this chief and working with the community partners. Just this morning was the launch kickoff event that we had in this call to handle with care. And it's kudos to the team and the department for willingness to expand their efforts, but also to go an extra mile in making sure that that warm handoff is communicated to the schools. and not only the schools, but also the early childhood educational programs in the city. So any child that's under the age of five will also be, and these agencies will also receive that notification so those families can be able and those providers can be able to provide that support. And that's the first in the state that we've launched and just kudos to the department.

So I just wanted to add that's another element of community engagement that speaks to the department.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like a motion to report back on the details of that particular Handle With Care model. I know that there was a pause put on those and there was numerous conversations as it relates to confidentiality of young people. As a child welfare expert of going back to the mid-90s, I know that when there's the 51A, a custody matter, the appropriate State Department, DCF or DYS notifies the stakeholders appropriately. So I know, even two superintendents ago, I think under, Superintendent Bonetta, there was some talk of this as well. It might have been actually going on in the schools. And it sounds like we're moving back to that. I would like to report back regarding those details sorts of what instances those occur in and any other concerns I know that they scaled it back as relates to what's being provided outside of a name

So that's certainly some progress there. But what we're hearing, Mr. Chairman, is that community engagement, community trust has a significant impact on public health and public safety. and it's that progress and that intersection that's so important. I certainly like to see folks that are youth workers, folks with degrees in childhood and education are most engaged with these folks and good to hear about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy being an element of what's going on and what's working for these young people as diversion. Anything that can disrupt the trauma of the prison pipeline is certainly appropriate, Mr. Chairman.

My main point that I rise today, Mr. Chairman, is to make that motion as well as to once again to just reiterate trends shift. and the importance is that we have continued prevention and smart strategies combined with community trust with accountable policing. And that's how we will continue to move forward. appreciate the attention to detail here and looking forward to when the trend does shift that we are able to point back to operations procedures and relationships as a means to confront and ameliorate any upward shifts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Councilor Bilotta.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, thank you, Chief, for this report. And again, thank you for all the work that you're doing and the work that the men and women of the police department are doing. you know the community policing is great to see the building you know community dialogue and trust and community communication um and again the um you know, seeing the work most recently done by the Crime Gun Intelligence Unit to get those weapons off the street and utilizing the technologies to do that I think it's obviously huge and it was great to see that big gun, I guess bust they'll call it for lack of a better term, excuse me. It's great to see getting those guns off the street and out of our communities. I had just a quick question regarding the crisis intervention work team that's been going on with the department. Just curious how that's been going.

It wasn't in the report, but I know we've talked about it before and certainly with my previous work with you on the Human Rights Commission. it's been really great to see that and again I'd like to just you know point out all the different policy changes that have been made that I think have been helpful like the language line policy which now allows officers to call up a live translator. I think that really helps again with community dialogue and building relationships. But just through the chair to the chief, just had a question about like the crisis intervention team, how's that been going? All right, any recent data on that? Aye, Chief.

Through the Chair of the Council, I don't have actual hard data on me, but I can tell you that the unit is working very hard. We also have a and we have one on board seven days a week. So that's a big change where when we have a call we can go out with the actual clinician and the police officer. and they also follow up. So if there's a call and the clinician is not on, then they put remarks in the comments and when the CIT team comes in, they go through all the calls from the previous day and if there's an indication that somebody would need CIT service then they go out as a team and they go address that. So we're expanding as we keep going.

And again, now that's seven days a week that we actually have somebody out there with a police officer visiting those different populations.

Thank you, Chief. I appreciate that. Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for all the work and looking forward for us as a community and leaders to be able to continue to have conversations to support Worcester residents and keep our neighbourhoods safe. So really, thank you.

Hang on. What's up? Okay, we have Councilor Fresolo followed by Councilor Rosen and Councilor King for a second time.

Through you, Mr. Chairman, to the Chief and the administration, I rise to speak just on one issue that is near and dear to my heart. While campaigning, it was a big issue in the Lake Ave and Hamilton Street area, and that is Speed, and Traffic Enforcement. So I'd like to, through you, Mr. Chairman, ask a couple questions to the Chief. You said you were down 58? Is that right, 58 officers?

Chief? Yes, and that includes retirements and officers out on long-term disability and officers who are deployed through the military.

Okay, thank you. And through you, Mr. Chairman, you have a class now in place?

Chief? Through the Chair of the Council, that's correct. Right now, as of Three o'clock this afternoon, we now have 25 Worcester potential police officers.

If you, this upcoming budget coming up through the Chair, I would definitely encourage and the City Manager. I know I've talked to him about it, adding as much as we can to the traffic division. So I know you're on the staff there. And I'd just like to ask, could you give us a little Thank you for your input of what you need to I'm looking at my district through you, Mr. Chairman, as enforcement is needed. And when you have the tools that you need and you deserve, you get the job done. I was in the legislature, Mr. Chairman, and my 14 years there, I was able to secure an air mark. I only bring this up to show the true belief that I have in the department that through four chiefs,

14 years of getting an air mark of $100,000 for community policing. The neighborhoods of Union Hill, Green Island, and Long Grafton Hill and Vernon Hill you know it was night and day with the police when you gave them again the tools and the and other funds that you need to do your job. So in using that as an example, I'd like to ask you through the chair, what could you give us as some and others that we could in turn speak to the manager and suggest and advise him that I know for one, myself, what I'd like to see added to the traffic division. Chief?

Through the Chair and the Councilor, I would love to see that as well. You know, hopefully we have 25 in class now, hopefully 22 graduate. We're probably We can have well over 40 officers actually between now and next November. It's probably close to 50, 60 officers that could retire full benefits. So if that happens, the chances of increasing traffic is not too good. As I explained before, we need to answer 911 calls. If that were to happen, and I mean, the city's been great that every single year we've had a class. and if we didn't have that, we'd be in real trouble right now. But again, it's tough. The recruitment, we go everywhere to recruit. We do everything you can, possibly think of. And we only have so many people taking the exam, so many people coming on. It's a two year process.

by the time you take the test, then actually graduate the academy, field train, and then get out there. But that is definitely on the agenda. Hopefully we can do that and expand it. and right now the officers on the street are not out there with radars because you can't set up and do that and go to a call. it's almost impossible. You have to have dedicated units that are experts in doing traffic because you don't only use Radar and LiDAR, but you're judging speed, you're testifying in court to that speed, and once that's what you do for a living, you have a better record when you are in court. But it is important. I know every community meeting I go to, that's the number one thing. And I'm sure everybody else here is the same. So we're putting up those signs. Speed Signs. I can just tell you one more thing.

I don't wanna take too much time. I went to the State House two weeks ago and I spoke on behalf of a organization who's trying to put forward the red light cameras and speed cameras. I think that would be a home run. Number one, it would be a minor fine, $25 to start. It would be educational purposes, I believe the first six months to a year, but it would have people it would create a deterrent effect because when you're driving around with your GPS, Waze on, whatever you have on your maps, it automatically comes up, speed camera ahead. The first thing y'all gonna do is hit the brakes. and that in itself I believe would help people comprehend that you can't drive around like it's you know, a racetrack. So I think that's a good thing. It's running through the legislature right now.

I hope it passes and I hope we implement it.

Sounds very good. Through you, Mr. Chairman, Chief, I hear you loud and clear. So let's think outside the box. How about a pay detail? putting officers in cruises on overtime, paying for a paid detail. Is that something that? That could happen. I mean, I know it's all dollars, but I couldn't believe how much people, as you just stated, when I went door to door down there, that they insisted on getting some relief from the speed and from trailer truck traffic that doesn't belong on that road. And that's something that I'd like to address as well. But through you, Chair, if you. Chief, and answer.

Through the chair of the council, we do get grants every once in a while. Most of them are for clicking in tickets, seatbelt violations. Some of them are for operating under the influence. So we do have those different factions that come in. that we utilize grant money to put those extra officers out there. That's something we would have to go through the budget cycle with to see if we could do that. one of the reasons I started the blue light program was just that because if you are a block away and you see that blue light you may have a second thought of whether or not you're gonna run that red light or speed especially if you see the cop about block away, you don't know how many of them are out. That's the whole reason behind that as well. So that's definitely priority is traffic.

Okay. Well, thank you for your answers. I appreciate your honesty, and I look forward to advocating on your behalf in this upcoming budget. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Rosen?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you've heard, all of us love the results of the report. Great job. you're saying through the chair to the chief that we're down 58 offices and we still have this excellent report. I mean that says a heck of a lot that being so short of Men and Women on the police force, we can still have these results. I can't wait for the day that we have as many of the compliment that we need in the department because I think that's fantastic. I agree with my colleagues and Councilor Fresolo and the Chief who just said that. Traffic enforcement is key. I lived for six months on the corners campaigning for this seat and what I saw was just amazing. Hour after hour, day after day, it was amazing.

It's not any longer the first car or even the second car that goes through the red light. those I started to accept, only two outside the mark of 32 at Park and Highland, only two went through the red light and said, okay, we're doing better. but no, it was three, four, and sometimes five cars. So that's what we're up against, traffic enforcement. If we can afford it someday, we have to be able to afford it, and with 58 officers, we're short that number. We probably can't do that. But kudos to the police department, the men and women of the department. I think the Chief would agree it's not only through the efforts of the Police Department that we have this good report. I look at the neighborhood meetings and groups that I've attended over the years and still attend and

that through the chair chief has to be so helpful from everything I hear at these meetings you've got the eyes and ears of so many neighbors so many neighborhoods throughout the community I think there's a good 50 50 neighborhood meetings going on. That must be helpful. I think you'd agree with that. And you talked about recruitment. It must be so difficult, Mr. Chairman and Chief Saucier, to recruit officers. From what I saw today online and on TV, the video I saw, You're shaking your head. Do you know what video I mean? Yes, sir. Yeah. I don't know if everyone saw it. New York City police officers being chased by a big gang of it was huge gang, I don't mean 10, I mean maybe 50 to 100, it was a huge gang, I couldn't see the end on the video, the end of the gang being chased, eight, nine, 10 officers being chased, men and women, by

this gang that had snowballs and were pelting the officers with snowballs. and we know obviously what New York went through the last storm, the last few days. There's plenty of snow and if it's that heavy wet snow, that's great for snowballs. and of course the officers, I guess they couldn't have done anything. They kept walking and they kept getting pelted with snowballs. and, you know, if I was younger and I wanted to be a police officer and I watched that, I might say maybe, you know, there's other careers I should consider. So we look at the report, we look at the great job, you know our offices do and the patience they have I see it on an everyday basis and it's a profession that Like politicians, like elected officials, you get a lot of criticism all the time. We all do. it's just a difficult job, they do well.

So many I know, I've seen over the years, they've been so patient with people they encounter and it's not always easy, it's not always easy to keep accepting getting pelted with snowballs. And a lot more goes on than with police officers, the treatment that they sometimes get besides snowballs. I congratulate the Worcester Police Department, the men and women, keep it up, and it's up to us, it's up to us, Mr. Chairman, to try to drive that number, 58 openings on the police department, a shortage of 58 officers, try to drive that number down. Budget is coming up. When we ask a question, one of my colleagues asked the question, do you need a little more money? And I saw the chief looking to the manager. I knew that was going to happen. That's a loaded question to ask to the chief of police. We all know that. But that's our job too. So as we have meetings with the manager about the budget, let's talk about the Worcester Police Department.

Let's also talk about Department of Public Works, which I think might need a little more funding too, both of those departments. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Councilor King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to just, given the most recent comments regarding the frontline police officers. Just want to give kudos to Angel Miranda, Casey Onigbo, and I think it's Trayvon, is it the new worker, Cooper, who work and have been working tirelessly Prior to that, Derek Leto may rest in peace, to make sure that the ranks are reflective and representative of the community at large. and I know that they've been working on this for quite some time. I'm sure we'll get a report at some point with regards to the positive inroads in that way. And it's been an honor to work with a number of folks over the last six years in that regard.

That being said, I also want to state with regards to the Blue Light program, I think that's a great step. One of the orders I've had in the past is related to ghost cars, more visibility. in terms of deterring speeding and traffic calming. So that's great. I look forward to the ghost cars aspect being strategically employed. and I really had questions regarding the core response model and that's again, as mentioned, we have clinicians responding with police officers, something that I led on here in this council. The last I knew when we spoke about this, we didn't have any data as it relates to that. So to the chair, to the administration, just asking if it's possible that we can gather some data and provide that data to the council.

Mr. Manager?

Yeah, three chairs of the council, yes. With something that we're currently working on, not only with the chief, but also with some community partners. So yes, I'd be happy to bring back an update on that.

Thank you. It's very important that we have that data. I brought these items forward, and Councilor Rosen also brought these forward many years ago. One of the important things is that around Central Mass, those were models had actual statistics as relates to deviating folks who are along the path. Diversion as discussed earlier from a different perspective. We know Judge Bebo. is doing a lot on the court side in that regard. But this is another opportunity. We have to measure it if we want grants and funding and additional supports on the city side that's what we have to have and also data regarding police responsiveness so we had some issues some years ago where i filed some concerns about clearing calls at the end of shifts.

There were some adjustments made under the prior city manager as a result of those requests that I had. And I know that there's some challenges as referenced to responding to things. So I would like, as a form of a motion, another motion in addition to that data request, data request regarding responsiveness to the calls so that we're able to measure, you know, and perhaps categorize those calls because maybe there's another entity to call because as I've mentioned again, we ask police officers to be social workers, we want them to be coaches, Youth Workers, we want them to be Triple A. They're law enforcement. and their number one response is to maintain things and to contribute to public safety. And relationships are always important to be built, but we have to make sure that we are employing people to the right areas to have the most efficacy on public safety. Mr. Chairman, thank you.

Thank you. Councilor, Mr. Manager.

Yes, I just want to provide a quick update to the latest motion. The chief and I were actually briefed by the emergency communications commissioner and some of the data related to the response time. So we're working on that report. We'll be happy to bring it back. but we we've been already kind of in conversation looking through that data a lot of data a lot of information in regards to the city we're talking about hundreds of thousands of calls So there's something that I think could be a fruitful conversation. And I think the data will speak to in terms of the impact and the work that the department does in responding in an adequate time to the calls that we get into the city.

Councilor Toomey?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm really glad that some of my colleagues talked about the staffing issues because I've been talking about it for over two years, that this public safety crisis was fast approaching. And two years ago, We filed an order requesting a home rule petition to the legislature to increase the age. This is one of the ways that we can increase the people taking the exam being eligible, is to increase the age of our offices. Right now it's what, 32 is the maximum? and we requested that it be, I think it was 40? 39, okay, 39. And so we still haven't heard back from the legislature. It was supposed to come out in November, sorry, December. and then it got delayed and now we're waiting until March before we hear this. But this is a solution. And I've been talking about this for two years. We've been down over 50 for the past couple of years. We've known that these two classes were going to be coming

to retirement age. And we've known that we've had challenges. And I do want to make a comment. My colleague, Council Rosen, made a comment of the police officer getting hit by snowballs and maybe there's nothing they can do. Well, yeah, there is. and I hope they do something. I hope they use whatever video they can get and identify those people who were assaulting them because that's assault and battery on a police officer. A snowball hitting a police officer is assault and battery. No different. then assaulting a police officer with the hand or anything else. So I just want to make that very clear that that is something that that's not something that's acceptable. It's not something that we certainly would support. and I want to make sure that our offices know that we have their back on that regard. But the most important thing is we need to hear from the legislature that we need this home rule petition. This is a public safety crisis and while we have

not increased, we've had what over the past 20 years? How many people, more people? What is it, 15,000 or is it? A population?

Population. Yeah, close to 30,000.

I'm sorry. Close to 30,000. OK. We haven't adjusted that number to that population. And while we possibly could, if you look at other cities and towns across the Commonwealth, the rate of officers per, I don't know whether it's 10,000 or whatever, but per population, it's much higher than ours. they're two point something and we're one something. So, you know, it's just we need to really staff up. And this is one way that we can do that. We can't expect the chief has done actually, I think, miracle work with so few people doing more with less, right? But we can't continue to do that. We need to give him the tools that he needs to be able to continue to keep our community safe and to continue to improve the quality of life for every individual in every neighborhood in all backgrounds. So it's important that this body continues to stay on top of this.

We need this home rule petition. And if we talk to our legislators, just make sure. I don't know if we asked you at the last meeting if you had communicated with them. Had you heard back through you, Mr. Chair, to the manager?

Mr. Manager?

I did communicate to the legislation. I've been in conversations with them. Right now it's been extended to March 18th for discussion and committee. The committee has the home rule petition and so that is a decision that the committee would have to make. We've been advocating to the entire legislation and delegation to support this effort. We had an 11-0 support here from the council. and one of the things that I think was mentioned to me was that there's other communities also seeking the same thing. So many different departments across the nation are trying to be innovative in terms of increasing the age, finding ways to recruit. Last year we saw part of the economic development bond bill. There was some efforts as well that different communities played a role in trying to trying to increase and find ways to recruit through like a regional approach. So departments across the entire state are finding different ways to try to recruit individuals

But that's part of the conversation that we've had, myself and the mayor with the current delegation to make sure that we can do what we can to support them in moving that forward at the state level.

Recruitment is one thing. Retention is another. And that's the other thing that perhaps we could get a report in the form of a motion of all of the other communities in Massachusetts, never mind the rest of the country, that are putting bonuses and signing bonuses and different incentives to recruit people that are already sworn officers. Shrewsbury had a number of them. I think that was just a couple of weeks ago. Was it Shrewsbury put this out through Mr. Chair to the Chief?

Yes, every week different departments are doing it. The Civil Service now created a registry. I had a meeting Friday. I had 10 names that I could have hired without going through the academy because they're already academy trained. When we went back and looked, six of them were overage because we don't have that. We don't have the whole roll petition. So now I'm down. It's either two or four that are left out of that 10 that we were going to highlight.

Yeah. So we really need to step up. and get all of this pulled together so that we can give him the tools to be able to do things like make sure that our community is not overrun with people speeding through the streets and all of that. So it's really important. This is a crisis. This isn't, oh, it would be nice if we had a few more people. This is a real crisis. And we need to move on this. And we need to make sure that the legislature knows we have to have this. Other cities and towns have been given home rule petitions to do just this and we need that equity and we need to make sure that we're being treated the same. So thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Council Berman. Sorry, Council Berman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be very brief. A lot of my colleagues raised a lot of very good points, and no need to repeat them. I just want to congratulate the Chief again on where we're at right now. We all have seen ebbs and flows in statistics, but in general, we're headed in the right direction. I think there's a lot of good reasons. for that I noticed that we have absent today some of those that I would have expected to say statistics don't really matter but they do and that's the best way to gauge where we're at. Now that doesn't mean it's the only way to measure, and I do agree with some of my other colleagues who've suggested that community collaboration is as important, and it is. And I would just remind those that's often criticized feel compelled to criticize the lack of community engagement that if we're doing well in addressing criminality and the statistics prove that, then I think we are doing a very good job in engaging the community despite what some of the comments of some of the others might be.

I would also say that I find it rather puzzling that some of the state legislatures who are clamoring to raise the age of criminality from 18 to 21 have a hard time helping us raise the age of being able to entice police officers at an older age to help fight crime. To me that inconsistency is just puzzling beyond belief. Lastly, let me just say that although I'm certainly open-minded, I think many if not all my colleagues are already hearing financial ways to make incentives for police officers to join and stay, I think a lot of this really comes down like any job does to feeling wanted. and I think as a community we have to continue to make sure that those that are members of the Worcester Police Department and those that want to be feel wanted and needed. And let me lastly say that in the wanted and needed category

we have various times over my time on the council kind of tapped our toes into the water of what are we going to do about an aging police station. And we really should revisit that this year because although great things come out of that building, it's an aged building. and we've done a great job in addressing aged infrastructure in the city but we've kind of ignored kind of the elephant in the room it's not going to be cheap but I think given the conversation we're having tonight and the understanding we all have as to how important public safety is I think it's a project we need to start addressing and start looking at ways to tackle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Councilor Bergman. We're gonna go to Mayor Joseph and Petty.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Chief, and your command staff, and the men and women of the police department, doing a good job. You have my support, always have, you always will, and this council's support, and under tough circumstances. It's not an easy job to be a police officer in today's world. and let's ask some questions that haven't been asked. Maybe we can go over, especially for the new councilors real quickly, crime analysis unit, what it does on a weekly basis. I think you meet with them on a weekly basis, go over where crime is. in different parts of the city and try to re-deploy your men or women of the police department.

Chief Sarcia.

To the Chair, every week we have a meeting on Thursdays. which goes through all of our crime stats. So what you see in front of you as far as the graphs, they'll go through all the crimes for the week. And when we have that information, that gives us the ability to put resources where they're needed most. It could be a different crime trend, It could be an area of the city that's experiencing different crime types. And that's the key. We're not looking at one thing. We're looking at everything, every single crime or public disorder and that's how we're able to deploy our resources where it's needed. Those folks do an unbelievable job. going through all the statistics and then they come up with a readable report and they tell us basically what's happening and where we should be going.

Mayor Petty.

And I was just curious, so these are our statistics, these don't include the FBI statistics that come in or? Is that a different report?

To the chairs. These are our statistics that do get reported to the FBI.

Oh, okay. Because I thought they had some national database where they report back to us what we reported to them.

To the Chair, that's a long process as far as they may not even be at 25 right now. You at 25? So these are local statistics and if you look at that graph it's based on a five year average. So we can look at a particular crime and say well now we know it's not just spiking or declining this year, this has been a trend for five years, which is the average where you want to look at to actually see what's going on.

Thank you. And the question I have is on, when you became chief, you wanted to build up the relationships with the community, which you've been doing. I know you've been out in the community a lot. and there's one thing that I just want to make sure it's in the next year's budget or this year's budget. On the summer impact, which as I mentioned here, we're still going to do that. The plan is still to do it.

To the Chair, that's correct. The Manager puts that in the budget every year. Yes, we'll be doing that again.

So that'll be in next year's budget. Sometimes we start it in this fiscal year budget at the end of June.

To the chair, we usually start right at the end of school being dismissed for the summer.

People should realize that's when you put about, I think, 18 police officers and six command people on the street, like three or four times a week.

through chair that's correct we again we use our crime statistics and when we have a increase in a certain crime in an area then we can stagger our people sometimes we'll only put eight out but we'll have an extra day and we'll put those eight out on foot. So it gives us a lot of discretion on how we're gonna deploy our resources.

and I think one of the rules that you changed was that group should do a two hour out of their vehicles and walk the neighborhood before they go. Is this the group that does that? I think it is.

Chief Saucier.

To the chair, during summer impact, the first two hours, two to three hours, all of them are walking, and then they get into the vehicles.

OK, and that builds up relationships with the community. So that's a good program we have. And then we talk about technology and the real crime If any council should do a tour of the real-time crime center, it's an eye-opener to see what they have and how they use that to fight crime here in the city of Worcester. And gun violence, we didn't really talk about this tonight, but the working group you put together it's called but the CGIU is that your group and that you work with the feds and work with the state and the city police

that's correct and again that's why it highlights that you have to have those relationships not only with state officials but with federal officials that way we can track these guns and the components That investigation where they got 30 guns in one raid, I can't really get into it, but it was pretty comprehensive.

Yeah, and so it has made a difference. Can you tell me how many guns you've taken off the street, or is that, you don't have that in front of you?

Tucci, I believe last year it was around 180.

because of this unit, general. Correct. And I agree with Councilor Hayden on the youth program. I think it'd be a great program on the, if we can do something during school week, going forth, not this year, at least next year, over the summer. I just, again, want to thank the men and women of the police department. It's not an easy job, but you're out in the community all the time, and it shows. I do love the... I'm beginning to like the lights on the cruises, I think. It does make a difference. You know why? Because people say they never see a cop. I see a couple all the time now because the lights are lit up. So it does make a difference in the community. So I think it's a good idea. I know you're doing a review of that coming back with a recommendation. But I think it does make a difference. So good job. Thank you.

Roll call on item 11.13 to be sent to Committee of Public Safety transmitting information communication relative to the 2025 Annual Report on Crime Statistics. as well as all the other orders to be sent to the City Manager roll call, Mr. Clerk.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta?

Yes.

Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo?

Yes.

Petty, and Vice-Chair, Councilor Kerr.

Yes, and item 1115, recommending adoption of proposed ordinance to increase fines for illegal dumping.

Before we vote.

Before I go there, we'll just do a real quick roll call on the three orders we got from Council Ojeda, two from Council King, and the previous, you already had that? Yeah, we added it. Oh, you already did? Yes. Okay, never mind. So we have, next item is as Councilor King has pointed out. I'm sure I'm on the right one here. Increased fines for illegal dumping. Anybody want to speak on that? Councilor Bilotta? No. So, and I just wanna thank City Solicitor for the report. And just, somebody has their hand up. Councilor Bilotta, why don't you go ahead in the fall.

Thank you Mr. Chair. I just wanted to thank the City Manager and the Law Department for getting this back in a timely manner. Illegal dumping is a real challenge throughout the City, certainly in District 2. driving through different neighborhoods on Belmont Hill, even Franklin Street, Lake Gap, Bigelow Davis Parkway, anywhere where there's kind of quiet streets, dead end streets, there tends to be more dumping, whether it's trash or furniture. or you've seen a toilet on Bigelow Davis Parkway. So I think it's really important in combination with other initiatives that the city is rolling out that we work to improve and raise those fines. and especially raise the fines for repeat offenders. So I think any step that we can take and any tool we can utilize to really you know, minimize illegal dumping, I think it's absolutely worth pursuing. So I'm really thankful for them getting this back to Council. Thank you.

I thank you, Council Palada. And I just have one quick question on it.

Mayor Joseph and Petty.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And just a quick question. First of all, I want to thank the department for looking at this and Rob Bilotta for filing this item. It's been an issue for a while in the city. And how's this question? Is there a... Is there a ceiling on how much a fine could be? I know before when we've had raised fines, you would say you only can do it to a certain extent. You can't over-fine people because it's unconstitutional or it doesn't meet state law. Is that correct?

Mr. Manager? Okay. Madam Solicitor, if you could just state your name for the record before you do your comments, please, so that the public knows who you are.

Alexandra Calacuna, City Solicitor. Through the Chair, yes, this specific ordinance or the statute allows up to $2,000.

Oh, it does, okay. Okay, that's my quick question, so thank you.

Thank you.

King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate the leadership on this from Councilor Bilotta. And I did want to just take an opportunity that in our public health committee, These issues have come up and I want to appreciate the leadership and some of the orders that were filed by Councilor Rosen in regards to and the health of the city. We know that expanding hours and things of that nature for drop off locations, making it more accessible, we know that we have some challenges and what have you. And I don't want the public to think that we are not aware of those challenges, Mr. Chairman. So through the Charity Administration, do we have an idea when we're going to get a report back on all of the matters that have

had have come or emanated from the council, from the various committees as it relates to the overall issue of public health. the overall issue of Worcester cleanliness in addition to this draft ordinance that came back in short order through the chair.

Mr. Manager?

Yes, through the chairs of the council, we're currently working right now on a zero waste master plan that will address a lot of the elements and motions and orders that this council and the discussions that we've had related to the residential drop-off center, fees, access, limited times, even also will include recommendations on the actual bin system that we have, the recycling bin system that we currently have. So there's a number of things that we're working through as part of the zero waste master plan our hopes right now we're going through a review process of that plan right now and and I hope in the next couple of months we'll be ready to submit those recommendations to the council for review and discussions as it goes through committee because there's going to be a number of elements that will impact how we budget moving forward, but also some of the transitional changes that would incur as part of the residential drop off and some of the recycling bins. We have a full report that's coming to council on that.

The Department of Sustainability and Resiliency has been working as the lead on that report. They've been working with every department that touches related to public safety and public health regarding these situations. So we'll be coming forward very soon with that.

Thank you. And through the chair to the administration, as it relates to the finances, the real time, real deal, and so forth, it's a matter of whether or not we're going to operationalize this sort of plan. Because we have massive plans for the parks, and it depends on funding, et cetera. I'm just wondering, when you reference budget, is there going to be a delineation of priorities to the council? So I know that in your domain, and then under your authority and under your purview, that certainly occurs with your department heads, et cetera. But is there a possibility within that strategic plan to provide to the council for oversight purposes, the delineation of those actual budgetary Councilor. Councilor. Councilor. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and many other implications that sometimes could be the reorganization of our department, reorganization of staff, et cetera. So sometimes it's not really a cost, but it's more so a matter that has to go through the budget process. we're going to look at all of that but the zero waste master plan will give us an indication and we'll prioritize what are the areas that we can focus on right now what are the kind of direct short-term things that we can do and things that are more of a long-term impact

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to reiterate, I think we all, including Councilor Bilotta, understand this is not a panacea, it's not a one-stop, one-shop remedy, but it's certainly a tool in the toolbox, and I look forward to that report coming in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. So the motion is to send this to MLO.

Roll call. Councilor Bergman? Yes. Council Bilotta?

Yes.

Councilor Economou. Yes. Councilor Resolo. Yes. Councilor King. Yes. Councilor Mitra. Yes. Councilor Ojeda. Yes. Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey.

Yes.

Mayor Petty. Yes. Next item is 11.28a, Transmitting Information and Communication Related to the Financial Update for the Period of December 31, 2025. We can send that to MLO. Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta?

Yes.

Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo?

Yes.

Councilor King? Yes. Mr. Mitra?

Yes.

Mr. Ojeda?

Yes.

Mr. Rivera? Yes. Mr. Rosen? Yes. Mr. Toomey?

Yes.

And Mayor Petty? Yes. We have finance items 11.35 A through H, 11.36 A through E, and 11.37 A through D. Councilor Ojeda.

Yes, just a quick question. on A. Just want to know through the chair to the city manager if they already know yet. So there's going to be five centers. Do we have an idea of like the location? Is that something in conversation of those five centers?

Mr. Manager.

To the Chair, to the Council. I'm not aware of what those five areas of those census would be. Right now we're requesting a grant application for those, but that's definitely something that either I can provide offline or I can just bring it back as a

No, that's fine. Just whenever we meet, I guess you could just give me an update on that. I'd just like to know. It's good that we have this, and I'd just like to know where they would be. Thank you.

Do we take a roll call 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, we have Chairman's orders 12A to 12G. Motions to adopt. And we have 13F. take with H, I, and O. I'm sorry, I was the oddest. Okay, never mind. 12A to 12G. Those in favor? Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou? and Mayor Petty.

We've been asked to take one item out of order. Is this all right with everybody? 13L, request the manager work with the Veteran Services Office's director to create a monument plaque that recognizes those in the city who served in World War II but are not currently recognized. I know we have people in the audience been waiting, so Councilor Bergman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I'm sorry, Hayter, for the suggestion. I know the Basinets, as much as they enjoy our company, probably have some other things that they'd like to do as well. So thank you, Mr. Chairman, for taking it out of order. This is an item that's near and dear to me. It has been on in various forums over the last few years. And in fairness to the circumstances, I know we've gone through various veterans' agents, but I will tell you that I rarely in the number of years I've been on the council have I had constituents so devoted and so concerned about getting something that they feel strongly about moved along. And I feel strongly, I should feel strongly about it. Because as it stands now, militarily if you're deceased in a war, unless you die in actual combat or injuries resulting within 90 days, it's not considered a killed in action. And if you're missing an action, if you're lost at sea, the same situations apply.

So we have many service people from Worcester who don't get the recognition although they gave the ultimate sacrifice because of what I could argue can be, not always is, but can be a technicality. Now for a time, Our World War II Memorial did not allow names to go on there unless the death was, I believe, within 30 days of the injuries. and we changed that as a council to 90 days because that's what the Veterans Monument in Washington DC uses for criteria. So you can see there is some flexibility. All they're asking for, and I'm asking on their behalf and other colleagues who have signed on and who support this are asking is that those that have given the ultimate sacrifice, regardless of the time period in which they passed, be given the same recognition that everyone else has got. And it could be in multiple different forms. It could be an addition to the existing World War II monument. It could be something, as was suggested,

up at Greenhill Park. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Sometimes the simplest recognitions are the most impactful and powerful. But we're losing that World War II generation every day. and all of us have put good effort into caring for veterans in this city. And I think this is just a very demonstrative way to show the veterans in our city that we continue. to care about those that have given the ultimate sacrifice and those that have served. And I hope this new council with my colleagues on board that we can get a tangible result, not just for the Bazanets, but for their loved ones and for many others who I've heard from. so that the recognition that's rightfully due gets done. Thank you.

Thank you. We have two Councils. Council Rivera followed by Council Boada. What purpose do you have? I just wanted to sign on. Oh, sign on? Yeah. Council, everybody wants to sign on? Okay. I'll sign on, yes. Just to sign on? Okay. Yes, ma'am. Okay, so as amended, Councilor Fezzola?

Mr. Mayor, I just want to rise as the chairman of the Veterans Committee to let the manager know let's work together and we'll get it to my committee. I would thank Mr. Chairman through you. hopefully get it passed and take care of the 265 from Worcester that obviously deserve recognition.

Thank you. Thank you. So the motion is to send it to the manager. Roll call.

Chairman, just one question. Should it go to the manager? Should it go to the committee? It doesn't matter to me. I just want the most efficient result. I think Councilor Fresolo certainly raises a good point, but I'll certainly defer to your ultimate decision.

Yeah, we'll move quickly and get a report back for the council. Okay, thank you. Okay, so send it to the manager, roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? and Mayor Petty.

Yes, we have audits. This is 13A, request City Manager request Commissioner of Transportation Mobility review the feasibility of completing the emergency Connolly, Resurfacing of Sagamore Road from Whitman Road to Park Ave in the upcoming construction season, Councilor Economou.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't think there's an original piece of asphalt on that street. It's a pothole on top of a pothole on top of a pothole. If there's one street in the city of Worcester that needs to be done, it's that section. So whatever can be done to move that along expeditiously, hopefully this construction season would be greatly appreciated. It's terrible. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Councilor King followed by Councilor Mitra.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Certainly appreciate this order. I know that myself has filed a similar order, Councilor Pacillo. and other folks. I know the mayor is aware of the situation. And I'm just wondering, when it comes to this particular item to the chair of the administration, Is there anything else that needs to be done on the elected side to expedite this or to convey this request? Because from what I recall, the upper section is well taken care of and people. have their ideas of why that is. We just want to kind of get this done through the chair.

Mr. Manager?

Yeah, to the Chair, to the Council. We just have to kind of look through it and understand kind of what are the needs. If we need to do a complete mill over, kind of, entire reconstruction of the street, then that involves more time and more work and it's more costly. If it's just simply a simple resurfacing, that we may be able to do something much quicker. So I would have to go back to the department, not only of transportation and mobility, but also DPW's engineering team to better assess what we can do in the short term. And maybe there's a potential solution that we can do in the short term with the long term eventually coming back and ripping that up, but I won't know until I speak with them to understand better what needs to happen in that road.

Thank you. And thank you for the attention to Councilor Economou's order. And I think that's what's in order, actually, is a short-term solution with a long-term realized solution for this particular street. I think some of the challenges that we have as a council and as the administration is when things go for a period of time and they're not done. you know the questions arise but I'm certainly glad to hear that there will be a short-term and long-term potential solutions to this so thank you Mr. Chair I'd like to sign on.

Thank you. So we'll sign Dr. Mitra. Thank you Mr.

Chair. Certainly it's a very good order Mr. Economou, Councilor Economou, I really like it because many residents have called and talked about the importance of getting this resurfaced. The only thing, I'd like to do an amendment, a friendly amendment, if Councilor Economou also would like to seek the agreement with Bilotta, because it falls into his district as well, because I wanted to see that if Sagamore Street is done up to Park Avenue, can it be extended up to Grove Street? So the whole Sagamore Street can be resurfaced. So that was my request for amending the order.

If I may, Mr. Chairman, I don't have a problem with the amendment as long as it doesn't affect that section of Sagamore Road. That section is in Far more worse condition than the rest of Sagamore Road. And if I, while I have a moment, I don't know if the Launch Patch Program, if we have that in place, if that's something to be considered here as well.

Thank you.

I also seek that Councilor Bilotta also agrees because that portion is in District 2. So if that could be done, then I think it will be at one shot we can get it all done. Thank you.

I'm sending that to the manager as amended. Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo? Yes. Councilor King? Yes. Councilor Mitra?

Yes.

Councilor Ojeda? Yes. Hunter Rivera. Yes. Hunter Rosen. Yes.

Hunter Toomey. Yes. And Mayor Petty. Yes. 13B, request that you manage a recognition of the importance of transparency in the Massachusetts Civil War and ensure that all supporting and backup materials associated with each item that appears on the agendas More than three dozen city boards, commissions, and advisory committees are available online for public viewing. Set backup materials along with the meeting agenda should be submitted to the city council's office or posted prior to the date. Rosen, the aforementioned Board, Commission, Advisory Committee meeting to ensure no individual needs to submit a public records request to the city to gain access to said backup materials. Councilor Rosen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this is about transparency that I know that we all support here in the city council and I hope the administration supports it with us. During the last few years when I haven't been on the council, even prior to that, but especially the last four years, following the council business and what goes on here in the city of Worcester. There's been a lot of folks around who have questioned the transparency of the city of Worcester on certain things. These are public records we're talking about. Public records means that people are entitled to them. So that's what I'm talking about tonight. I'm talking about the records that people are entitled to. not records that people aren't entitled to. I don't know much about those and I don't know where they are. I suppose personnel files are not public records and so on, but I'm talking about ones that the public might ask for, might want,

to get them involved in our city government and our city life and so on. And sometimes we hold back. We hold back. I don't know why, to me, if they're public records, we don't even have the choice to hold back. But sometimes we have over the years, and I just don't think that's a good idea. I don't think the city has anything to hide So I just think that if it's a public record, that means, a definition, it's available to the public. Now we're charging money for that to be printed and redacted if it has to be. Whatever they do to those records, dig them out you know, get them ready to, prepared to pass on to the person who's requesting it. Okay, some people can't afford it, but that's okay. We're charging because it cost us some money. So that's the first thing. But then a lot of times there's delays, okay. We're gonna give you the information you have. I think the rule is public records law. 10 business days to respond.

and then maybe we can extend it for another 15 because we need 25 now. Okay, I don't mind that. But a lot of times the people who request the records and willing to pay the money just don't get them even within the 25 days. So I don't know what that's all about. I just don't understand why a public record can't be public, can't be made available to those who request it. and if we made them available, we wouldn't have so many people always requesting them. They could just go online, that's all I'm asking. Go online and see the backup We got a lot of backup tonight. In every council meeting, we have backup. And since we're a regulatory body, it's online. The city puts it online. City council, council committees, regulatory boards, I know the Board of Health that I was on, online with the agenda on a page of the city website.

and there's documentation for some of the other boards and commissions, it's not usually provided. I don't know why. So if I want from one of those other boards and commissions, I want the documentation, the public record, if I want that, I have to make a public records request, I have to pay money, I have to wait my 25 days, there's probably gonna be a delay, So maybe I have to wait two or three months. I just don't know why we make people go through all these hoops all the time to get what they deserve. I don't think we own those records, the City of Worcester, the City Council. I say that because, I'm saying this 10 times now, they're public records. people have the right to see them. And if we want people in this community, in this city to become engaged in our government, which we always talk about, we want them involved, we want them engaged, then there's no need

to keep records from them, to make them apply for them, go through a public records request. Why do all that? So all I'm asking is the records of the public that people should have access to. I'm not asking for free. I'm not asking for less than 25 days. I'm just asking that they be available online to folks, just like tonight's meeting. It's all available online. It's not just this little agenda that they get to see. They get to see everything. We have nothing to hide here in the city of Worcester. They should be available to members of our community. It's wrong. to say public records, maybe you're not entitled to them. That's a wrong attitude. And I know that's not the attitude of this city council, all 11 of us. So let's enhance our transparency.

Let's adhere always to the open meeting law and make the information available. It's that easy. It's not our information, it's the community's, the city's information. The people who live and work, own businesses, go to school in the city of Worcester. it's their information. Let's give them access to it online. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Councilor King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a request regarding clarification on this particular item to the Chair, to the Clerk, or to the City Manager. With respect to minutes of those meetings, are those currently posted through the chair to whomever?

Mr. Manager?

Or to the clerk maybe? Clerk might know.

To the chairs of the council, currently right now, the boards of commissions post their agendas. There are some boards of commissions who are posting their minutes, but I believe not all of them right now currently are posting their minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would ask that my colleague, I'd like to sign on to this, if he would allow for a friendly amendment. I'll sign on to it anyway. I'll make a separate motion that we also include minutes for the committee across the board so that we can also have that. It's very important that that work is transparent. I agree with the Councilor, it's the public's interests. And I think it also informs sort of what the work that's going on in totality. These boards and commissioners are somewhere We vote on some. The manager has the authority to appoint. And I think it'll be extremely helpful for civic engagement and for folks understanding this form of government, Mr. Chairman. So that would be my motion, and I would like to sign on to this. Thank you, Councilor Rosen.

Okay, so as a comment, Councilor Bergman? What purpose do you rise? Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I see I get copies, and I'm sure some of my colleagues do as well, but maybe not all my colleagues, of various petition requests for public records. And the ones that I see most often have nothing to do with backup materials. I have no issue with making backup materials available if they should be. But by and large, those aren't backup materials that we prevent people from seeing because When we go to our agendas on Friday afternoons, we have the backup materials and so does anybody else from the public who wants to look at it. Backup materials that I think are being referred to, I could be wrong, the ones that perhaps come from zoning, planning, and other boards, which we don't have any control over because other than the library board, we don't decide on who's on those boards and what their roles are as far as making the information available. So I guess my amendment would be to request

that the law department break down the purposes that are being requested, that the records are being requested because from what I see from the copies of emails I get, public records generally get delivered in a timely fashion. There are a few people requesting large numbers of public records who go on social media and tell other people, let's bombard, I'm paraphrasing, the law department with public meeting requests so that we can basically make them go out of their mind, so to speak, in trying to comply. That's not something I want to play, be a part of. I just don't. I think everybody's entitled to the records. But I think if you're trying to overwhelm the system, you're going to have to wait your time. because there are people that are asking for those records for other very legitimate reasons. So let me just start off by saying that.

and the other amendment I'd like to do in addition to asking the law department to list, don't list the person who's asking, I don't know if that's private or public, but I'd like to know the category of why they're asking. Are they asking for backup material? from the City Council, from boards or agencies, or are they asking for other reasons? Lastly, let me just say that I am unaware that a agency like the WRTA ever puts their backup materials online or makes them public. And I know some of my colleagues have been involved with WRTA as well and I think in a matter of transparency that might be, it's not a city agency, but it might be one of those city affiliated agencies that probably is the least transparent and nobody talks about that altogether. I'd like to see WRTA backup materials go online as well and the results of their meetings so that people aren't kept in the dark of what goes on in the WRTA meetings. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Well, if we do, one suggestion, maybe an amendment would be to just follow the process of the city council, each board and commission. We have a date due by 48 hours ahead of time, we post it. That's my thought.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, I don't know if I have the choice, but I do not accept Councilor Bergman's amendment. It's not a friendly amendment to my order. My order has nothing to do with Councilor Bergman's emails. Nothing to do with that. Nothing to do with the RTA. I was the chairman of the board of the RTA. I'm not talking about the RTA. I've had a big item January 13th, our first meeting about the RTA and what I thought had to be changed. And a lot, Councilor Bergman's right, a lot has to be changed with the RTA. That's not what this is about. And when you say there's a flood of requests, people telling their friends and others online, There might be a flood of requests because the information isn't available online. This will cut it down. Through the chair to the city manager, Do we have this information from the Human Rights Commission online?

Do we have their backup materials, their supporting materials on every item they consider? I know we do for the Board of Health that I was on. Do we have it for the Human Rights Commission?

To the Councilor, no, we do not.

We do not? We do not. Okay. They do not. It has nothing to do with another counselor's email. It has everything to do with transparency. and everything to do with public records that people are entitled to. If we give the people the records, there will not be this flood of requests by friends and foes alike that Councilor Bergman mentions. Let's do it right from the beginning, and then maybe we can eliminate that problem. Public records, people are entitled to. So why will we stand up and make excuses why we can't do that? The city has nothing to hide. Let people know. The Human Rights Commission has nothing to hide. Let people know also. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr.

Manager.

Through the Chips of the Council, I just want to state something, and we'll be happy to provide this data and information to the public, because I think there is a notion here that there's a floodgates of requests coming in for boards and commissions, minutes, agendas, and backup information. That is falsely incorrect. I just want to state that because it seems like there is this narrative that we're withholding information on this numbers of requests that are coming in for boards and commissions. That's not true and that's not correct. It's not correct. So I just want to state that because that's important information for the public to know.

OK. So we're going to refer this to the manager. However, I think, Councilor King?

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I didn't expect this from this order Mr. Chairman. I think the spirit of this order is right where it needs to be. I have a pending order that would like to be brought forward that was related specifically to the Human Rights Commission. It was a request some time ago, as the manager's aware, for memos and minutes, et cetera. And I hope that'll be realized soon. And I think the one thing that I do know is at the best course of action, Mr. Chairman, to be accessible and transparent as possible. And I don't know what's about these number of requests for commissions and boards, but I do know that the council unanimously requested what I requested. And so I look forward to receiving that. And I also know, Mr. Chairman,

with the best course of action cannot include personalizing public and civic rights to governmental affairs. And that's something I think is important to note. So despite who asks, We can't get into, there's been too many requests for one particular issue or another. What we do have to focus on, Mr. Chairman, as process in making sure that we are informing the public. We have a very unique form of government in plan E. People don't know who to blame for snow operations. Is it the city council? Is it the mayor? Is it the manager? Is it the commissioner? Who is it? The more transparent we'll be, the more understanding the public will be. And I think that's the best way to move forward. I look forward to the manager responding to this, but again,

I think the spirit of this is not accusatory. I think the spirit of this is like, hey, here's an opportunity to be a more open government. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Yes, I just was to reiterate. Yeah, this is about providing more information to the public and. You know, the human rights commission, the access advisory commission. Previously, Agenda backup materials were attached to the agendas, just like they are for Council. And I think, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned that a few minutes ago, having all the commissions have their Agendas have the associated attachments. So. Individuals members of the public members of the force themselves. Well, they already get them, but members of the public have access to information to really. help improve civic engagement and make sure that the public knows what's happening so um and not to say that there's anything that anything is being withheld but I think

We need to make sure that that information is there on these commissions just like it is for Council. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, so we have the order and we have two amendments that didn't want to, the file of the motion doesn't accept the amendments and we take those separately, but we should take The first item is to send this item to the City Manager. Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou? Yes. Councilor Fresolo? Yes. Council King. Yes. Council Mitra. Yes. Council Ojeda. Yes. Council Rivera. Yes. Council Rosen.

Yes.

Council Toomey. Yes. Mayor Petty.

Yes, the next item is the report on all the requests for public meeting, open meeting law regarding all the requests that come under that, roll call.

Bergman, yes, Councilor Bilotta, yes, Councilor Economou, yes, Councilor Fresolo, yes, Councilor King, Mr. Chairman if you could just clarify

That's one of the requests on the Open Mean Law. How many requests are we receiving for Open Mean Law information?

How many, not who, is that correct? Right, exactly. Yes.

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

Yes, the next item is regarding the ITA that they post their minutes and also their agenda.

Brueggemann? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo?

Yes.

Councilor King?

Just clarification again, that's for the city manager to post, correct?

I'm not sure the answer to that question.

I will vote no. I don't know what it is. Unless there's, I mean, we already started the vote. I don't know that the WRTA can post to our agenda. So I'm voting no.

Can I provide some clarification, Mr. Chairman? So WRTA by Open Meeting Law is required by the Attorney General's Office to file with the Clerk. So as they do the agendas, they can also provide the same thing for the minutes. Some of them don't send them sometimes.

So yes, so the WRTA should post their agendas.

So is the request that the WRTA post agenda or is it that the city post their agenda?

I think the request is for the WRTA to post their agenda in minutes.

If I could be helpful on that, very simple. It's just a WRTA follow the law. And we ask them to do that.

That's a different motion. Can you just clarify, Mr. Chairman?

So he's asking for the WRTA to post their minutes and their agenda.

Thank you, yes.

Yes. Councilor Mitra?

Yes.

Councilor Ojeda?

Yes.

Councilor Rivera? Yes. Councilor Rosen? Yes. Councilor Toomey?

Yes.

Mayor Petty?

Yes.

Okay.

13C, request the City Manager request the Commissioner of Transportation Mobility make speed humps more visible through the application of a high visibility yellow. Yellow traffic-related paint with reflective glass beads pre-mixed in it in an effort to protect the cars or motorists from potential damage. Yellow is generally regarded as the most effective color for night visibility on the roads. Rosen.

There should be an easy one. Mr. Chairman, so I'm driving up Sagamore Road, we just talked about Sagamore Road. I was going very slow, District One, all the ruts, you know, holes in the road, and those are year round, those aren't just winter potholes. and I get to the top of Sagamore Road and that's what Monadnock Road, okay, and I go left This is before 4 p.m. You can't do this at 4 to 6. This is before 4 p.m. I think it was probably 5 or 4. I go up Sagamore, and I flip a left, to go down the little distance on Monadnock to get to Salisbury Street. It's a short distance there. And what do I do? I hit a speed bump. and I had with me the two Chinese high school students that my wife and I host. I hit the speed bump. I probably used a word that I shouldn't have used in front of my Chinese students because I didn't see a sign

about the speed hunt. I didn't see a sign. There was a sign, but no one could see the sign. so Mr. Manager, check into this place. You go up, you hit Monadnock, the sign is pointing to the people coming towards Salisbury on Monadnock. It doesn't let the Sagamore people know about, there's a speed hump. So I just, 15 feet, I wasn't going that fast, but you hit a speed hump at 20 or 25 miles an hour, you know, the whole car jumps, you know that? So I mentioned to the, I mentioned to the, students, my Chinese students. I said, do you have these speed pumps in China? And they said, yes. They said, yes. and then they said, but ours are more visible. These are two Chinese high school students, but they love math and science and so on. So they said, but they're more visible. I said, why are yours more visible? Because they're painted yellow. I said, oh, I don't know why I was on Paint the Yellow.

We got little arrows on them in the white, partial arrows there. And then they said, plus they use some type of paint, reflective paint. It has some types of beads in the paint. And you can see even better at night. So I thought, well, Worcester could do that too. I know we all have hit speed bumps, maybe a little too fast. but I was innocent, not guilty on this one. The sign wasn't there because it's facing the other way and you don't see it. There should be two signs, two directions, two signs but we could make them more visible. and we could make them reflective at night. Why don't we do that? That's it on this one. We're gonna send it, I guess what, to the manager I asked for. Mr. Manager, I think we can do this. It won't be that expensive. It'll save some wear and tear on our cars. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Okay, so the motion, amend to sign on, and those in favor on that? Roll call. As amended, so maybe also get a report back on the federal rules we got in painting of lines, because we went through with some military, if I remember right, So I just want to see what the rules are on that. Because I asked for your different paint on those three, too. But we will send that to the manager as amended. Roll call.

That's just a report back, right?

Yeah.

Brackman, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra, Ojeda, Rivera, Rosen, Toomey, Petty.

Yes. Okay, we're on 13D. Request the manager to provide the council with an update concerning the current state of negotiations for a new cable contract with Spectrum. The previous agreement, which expired in October 2023, was marred by Spectrum's contract violations, poor customer service, poor cable. Rosen, Cable Reliability, Inferior to Provide, Contractual Senior Discounts, among others. Councilor Rosen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Through the Chair, through the City Manager. Mr. City Manager, am I right in the order when I said the present contract that we've extended evidently did expire in October 2023, is that correct?

Mr. Manager.

Through the Chair to the Councilor, yes. But we have extended, as part of the negotiation process we've required, we have to seek extensions, whether it's a year or whatnot, so that we can continue to negotiate.

okay but it's been about two and a half years now that we've extended the contract and this has nothing to do well maybe a little to do but it's not mainly about the senior discount I've talked about that in January but it's about I mean it's two and a half years. I mean what do we owe to this company? and they have a monopoly on the cable TV service. They own the network, the fiber network and I don't need a written report, Mr. Chairman. You can do that right now and I'll file this order. What's going on with Spectrum? and then we can file the order. I just have to know, it's taking so long. I mean, there was what, a year ago? Maybe two years ago? Two years ago, probably.

that our Cable Advisory Commission made some strong recommendations, and they said even two years ago, and we're still negotiating, two and a half years ago from now, they suggested that you not extend the contract, not sign a new contract, and we let the federal government sort a lot of it out. They would take a look at the contract and what's going on here in Worcester, and I know you were against that, and I guess Some of the members of the Cable Commission decided to resign. So it was a very controversial thing. But here it is two and a half years later, and we still don't have a contract. How many years do we give this company? Do we need, and I subscribe to all three services. This of course is only about the cable TV service. but how many more years do we give a company? I mean, are we that desperate here in the city of Worcester? Do we give them two, three, four, five more years? I mean, what's going on?

Are we gonna sign this next month and I can get up and congratulate you?

Mr. Manager.

To the Chair, to the Council, I'm going to try to explain a little bit as possible, provide as much information as possible based on the current situation. We're currently negotiating still with them. There are certain things that we're asking Charter or Spectrum to comply with, certain asks. More specifically related to the senior discount. And we don't feel that they have adequately moved on that and come close to what we're asking. and so I am not inclined to sign a contract if I don't feel as though they are not doing their part to come to the table and provide what we're asking for. and so that's been a struggle and that's been a battle for the past two years with them. One of the things is I can choose not to sign a contract today. and say, you know what? No more contract with the city of Worcester. But that still doesn't preclude them from providing a service to residents.

They're still going to provide a service to residents. Under federal law, they have the ability to still provide a service in this city, a cable service. What the contract allows me to do is to obtain a certain amount of fees, obtain certain amount of benefits for them to continue to operate in this city. And so that's where we're negotiating, where we feel as though there's certain elements that we feel strongly that they should come to the table with and offer. Senior Discount. We have an issue where we felt as though, you know, in the history, in the last contract, there are obligations to the Senior Discount and that's been communicated not only through the Cable Advisory Commission, but also here in this council floor. There's a number of elements there. There's a PEG channel fees. We are seeing though, one of the impacts though is that we are seeing a significant decline in users or cable users. And so I think also people construe the cable contract with general spectrum internet.

Those are two separate things, and you're very well aware of that. But there's two separate things. and right now currently in the cable users, the cable individuals in this city that are currently in cable, there's less than 20,000. prescribed, subscribed to cable. At the height of numbers of years ago, we were in the 50,000 or 60,000, et cetera. That number is significantly declining. in a rapid pace, which means that a lot of people are turning to streaming. They're turning to internet to watch TV and stream, et cetera, et cetera. And so we're seeing that decline. There is a possibility in the next 10 years we may not have any more cable as an industry or as a market. We're trying to do our best part that whatever contract we sign, it could be a five-year contract doesn't have to be a 10-year contract what benefits that we can get as a city as they continue to operate in this community and that's where it's been taking some time.

I think we've made some headways with the consultant that we've had and the work of the solicitor's office as well. But again, it's a... It's a process that I would hope would have been much faster. But again, it's taking a little bit longer. But our hope is that I won't sign a contract. That's something that I've said. I won't sign a contract until I feel satisfied that this company is providing some benefits to the city of Worcester.

Through the chair to the manager, I'm glad to hear you won't sign that contract. I'm glad to hear you're so insistent on the senior discount, which is especially important because I think you said 19,000 subscribers? Is that what you said? Okay, so about 20,000 subscribers and probably 19,000 of them are seniors, right? Yeah, because young people don't sign up for cable TV anymore. Right? So I'm glad you're doing that. But through the chair to the manager, isn't it possible that y'all, I think you pointed them. your cable advisory committee a couple of years ago was right when they said, don't negotiate anymore, don't sign any contract. let the federal government step in, do an evaluation of the whole situation and make some recommendations and maybe the recommendations would be here's what Spectrum has to do to ever have another contract here in the city of Worcester. And it wasn't just the, and as you know, Mr.

Manager, it just wasn't the senior discount. I think the Cable TV Commission listed several things that you know the spectrum communications was doing wrong and they were violating our contract and I mean, it's two and a half years. Are we going to have this same discussion two and a half more years now? I mean, what? I just don't see you say that when negotiating and you're going after all these things. I agree with you 100%. but two and a half years? I don't think we ever had the ascertainment period that long. I mean, it seems to be that they don't want to deal with us. So let the federal government step in. Why the heck not? We won't lose the TV service. We won't lose it. Mr. Mayor? It'll still go on.

Through Chair to the Councilor, just one of the things that I've read before, I just want to read it again. The purpose of us negotiating to contract with them is to try to gain a benefit for the city. I can let the federal government and not do anything, and sit here and not do anything, and let the federal government determine it, but that's gonna take years for the federal government, because they're not gonna treat Worcester separately. They're gonna look at it in terms of the entire market. the entire industry. And that's something that these agencies, these organizations are paying millions of dollars for lobbyists to lobby the federal government and FCC as well to do their part. And that's a constant battle today. what I'm focused on is what can I do based on my capacity as a city manager to gain a benefit for our residents but otherwise we don't get any benefit and we just kind of sit here utilize their service without any benefit and that's what and what the Now, one thing that's important, the Cable Services Commission did a fantastic job. They did a fantastic job. I was never in disagreement with them in terms of what they did.

They didn't want me to pursue in negotiating. I felt as though it would be in our best benefit to negotiate at least get something in return and see if we can recoup some of the impacts that we've had in the previous contract that they violated. That was my hope. Otherwise, we sit here. We do nothing. The federal government takes over to look at in this situation. But what does the city of Worcester and the residents get in return?

through the Chair to the Manager, who is negotiating on your behalf for the City of Worcester with Spectrum?

Yeah, through the chair to the council, we have the solicitor's office and an outside consultant who is a nationally recognized in this field who spoke before the council and brief the council on the strategy of the negotiations. Currently, right now, there are cities across the entire nation that are waiting to see what our settlement looks like before they decide to make their contract settlements.

Through the chair, they better be very patient then. have been waiting to see.

I think they're looking at Worcester as a place that we are much further ahead than they are and they're appreciative of that and they're hoping that our contract can set an example for what they can be able to do on.

Has this consultant that we hired worked with us during the last two and a half years?

Mr. Manager?

Through the chair to the council, yes.

And through the chair to the manager, you still have faith in this consultant?

Absolutely. He's one of the industry leaders in this effort.

Okay. Just a ballpark figure through the chair to the manager. When do you think that you and Spectrum, the city of Worcester and Spectrum, will come up with a new contract?

Mr. Manager?

All I can say is that within the past month, they said soon. Who said soon? In our efforts with the consultant in working with Spectrum, the answer was soon. We expect soon. So that's what I can relay back.

Okay, Mr. Mayor, my recommendation is to file the order. Okay, sure.

Okay, we have Councilor King, Economou, and Rivera.

My question's been answered.

Okay. Mr. Chairman, really quickly. One, just like an update. a written update on my requests that have continued regarding any litigation or potential litigation on behalf of our seniors who've been duped and who have been stolen from. That's a motion. And then secondly, I would just ask that Council Rosa consider withdrawing his filing and perhaps the chair referring this to the appropriate committee so there can be some further discussion. In addition to that, Mr. Chairman, I'm wondering, are we able to, I guess I would make a motion requesting that we have an executive session to learn the legal strategies that are being employed by the manager in consultation. with the entity that is nationally known. Mr. Chairman, thank you.

Okay, Councilor Carmel, purpose theorized?

Just clarification, Mr. Chairman, through the chair to the manager. To me, it sounds like we have zero leverage, right? Zero leverage. can they terminate service or are they bound under federal guidelines to provide service?

Mr. Manager?

to the chair, to the council on the federal guidelines, they have to provide a service. And so our efforts as a city and a municipality across the entire nation Part of the federal process for them to provide any services, they have to come into agreements with the local communities on a particular fee. And this has been A lot of these entities, Comcast, Spectrum, et cetera, when they started to shift to streaming, people in terms of their behavior shifted their services to streaming and left cable. the streaming component does not have the ability for me to engage into a contract and collect fees out of that, but the cable does. And so that's been the fight at the federal level where there's municipalities and states fighting because the streaming industry it's growing and growing and growing but does not have the ability, communities don't have the ability to go after and try to negotiate contracts with them. You can only do that with cable and that's the situation that we're in.

So in my opinion they're probably buying time to bolster their other services to make, because they know this is going to go away one of these days. And I don't think it's going to be 10 years. I think it's going to be the next two, three years. But that's all. I just figured I'd ask if we had any leverage. I didn't think we did, but thank you.

Council Rosen.

Mr. Chairman, I'm going to withdraw my motion to file and just ask that we send this to the Committee on Public Service and Transportation.

Councilor Rivera?

My question was for clarification. If it says request city manager to provide city council with an update, I'm just confirming that is what we received now from the city manager. We got the update we were looking for, right?

and we send that to both City Manager and Public Service and Transportation?

One or the other, we can send it to, and get a report. So I'm gonna send your item to the Public Service and Transportation, Councilor Rosen.

Okay, are you saying without a report?

Yes, but he's asking for a report. No, no. Oh, I thought you did.

I'm saying is, do we even need to vote on this if we have the information we were asking for?

I think they want to have a review. The manager already gave his answer, so I don't think, in this case, I don't think we need to report, even though most cases we should have a report. But he already gave his answer. I think everybody heard it. I think the chairman should coordinate with the manager on how you're gonna proceed as a public service, or Rob Bilotta should, public service and transportation. Okay, so motions to send that to Councilor Bergman?

Through the Chair, if I may, to the City Manager for clarification. Did I hear you correctly earlier that, and I think I did, that they don't have to negotiate with us at the moment. They don't have to negotiate with us, period. They have to continue to provide services. Is that correct?

Mr. Manager?

That's correct. They have to provide the service in the city. So I remember we had a, I apologize. I remember we had a law. We can choose, even if we choose to go into the entity. That was the legal strategy of the city to pursue that. My guesstimate is that they are wealthy enough to drag this on for many, many years to the point that we lose X amount of subscribers where cable becomes not obsolete. and they will continue and they're required to continue to provide that service in the city in the midst of the fact that we're not getting anything in return.

I appreciate that. Mr. Chairman, I recall the expert that the city hired speaking to us and a lengthy conversation. I don't know if it was something we did outside of the public venue. And I remember him saying that by federal law, we can't cancel the contract. and by federal law they don't have to accept the new contract they just would continue on. I mean I'll vote to support this but let me just say that the current state negotiations for what I just heard is not really something that anybody can report on because it doesn't have to be any negotiations because they could simply just drag it out as long as they want. But I'm sure with all the other items you have to report on Mr. Manager, you'll find time for this one as well. Thank you.

Okay, so the motion is to send that to committee along with a motion for executive session and also a motion on, I think, legal strategy regarding this item, so.

Bergevin, Bilotta, Economou, Fresolo, King, Mitra,

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes, so we have 13F, we can take with 13H, 13I, and 13O. If you want to take those collectively together, and you can take one at a time. Request the team manager to request, because they all have to do with potholes, request the team manager to request the commission of public works to provide a report to the city. 13E, Mr. Cameron. We skipped E. Oh, I skipped E? I'm sorry. Oh, 13E. City Councils often have a responsibility to address standard of care at a city hospital within their jurisdiction, and the local department of public health has a responsibility to investigate, report, and act upon allegations of unsafe, unethical or non-compliant care. Request City Manager, request City Solicitor to provide City Council with a report concerning the feasibility of the City Council requesting the Board of Health to investigate the all too frequent allegations of dangerous understaffing, complaints of unsafe conditions at St. Vincent's Hospital, Councilor Rosen,

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, on this order, please, my colleagues notice that I'm asking the city solicitor to provide the city council with a report concerning the feasibility of this council requesting, and I chose the Board of Health, which is certainly independent of the city council, didn't say the committee that I chair, the Public Health Committee of the council, So that's why I went to the city solicitor, just asking if we can request that the Board of Health investigate the allegations of dangerous understaffing and complaints, unsafe conditions at St. Vincent Hospital. the one who provides the most oversight to our hospitals, including St. V's, is the Mass Department of Health. And overall I think they do a pretty good job. But when does the city of Worcester

the city council, the administration, when do we get to the point and say we've heard year after year after year whether there's negotiations with the nurses, or there's a contract that's settled on. We've heard these similar allegations. Investigations found the hospital failed to maintain safe staffing ratios. Heard it for years. for years. Do we have to hear it another five years? Another 10 years before this city council says the people of Worcester, not only the people of Worcester, but many people of Worcester go to this hospital. and there might be unsafe staffing ratios. There's incidents I was reading about patient falls, medication errors, failure to provide necessary monitoring equipment. a group that rates hospitals across the country. It's called Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade.

Probably none of us heard of it, but they're pretty well known in the hospital industry as giving grades to hospitals across the country. they rated 39 Massachusetts hospitals. I would hope that St. Vincent's Hospital would be in the top 10. No, they weren't. I would hope they'd be in the top 20 of the 39. No, they weren't. They were 34th of the 39 in the state of Massachusetts. you know, not really a good record and the grade was D, the grade was D. A lot of As, Bs, and Cs of hospitals in Massachusetts. Only three or four out of the 39 got the grade of D. I don't think anyone got an F. D was pretty much the lowest. they gave. So some people might say St. Vincent's Hospital is a great hospital. I go there. I've been there many times. My doctors are there. But I just worry if

We've had the same complaints year after year after year and the Mass Department of Health is always after them. They're always investigating. They find them, they warn them, they do whatever they can to get them always to comply. I'm just saying, don't we reach a time where This council, some way, this administration, this city of Worcester says, hey, people go to that hospital. and it's been 12 years, eight years, I don't know, six years where we've heard the same complaints. Shouldn't we look into it? We have a board of health that's independent of this council. I served on it for four years. I would think they're the perfect group to call in the new administrator of St. Vincent Hospital and talk to that administrator and maybe a few other administrators from the hospital and see what's going on over there. I'm not asking us to take the role or the place of the Department of Public Health.

I'm just saying, let's show a little more interest. If something was going wrong at one of our elementary schools, Not only would the Department of Education from the Commonwealth be involved, but our school committee would be involved. if students weren't being treated well, they weren't being taught, test scores were low, the school department and the school committee would move on that. And I don't think ever this city council has said, You know, we're interested in what's going on at St. V's. The stories we hear, are they all exaggerated? I don't think so, but maybe we should find out. So I think the Department of Public Health State Department of Public Health, they would probably welcome some interest from the Worcester City Council and especially from our Board of Health, the city's Board of Health. I'm just asking still for an opinion from the city solicitor. The city solicitor may come back and say, oh, you can't do that. I didn't say we're going to do it.

I said the Board of Health. and can they work with the Department of Public Health from Massachusetts and maybe change things the way things are done with the new CEO at Tennant Health St. Vincent Hospital. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

and Council King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly appreciate this order. I want to sign on to it enthusiastically and emphatically. So thank you, Councilor Rosen, for your your leadership on this. And I certainly appreciate the feasibility request. In addition to that, Mr. Chairman, I would ask by way of a friendly amendment, that it also be included in that request that the council be provided with two things. One, the report and findings from the Department of Public Health relating to unsafe staffing and patient care. And the second friendly amendment to my colleague is that a report back on the National Labor Um...

NLRB, the National Labor Board's findings as well with respect to the hospital that just came out, Mr. Chairman. It's extremely important, I think, that Chairman Rosen has an opportunity to review that information in committee because We know that we've been talking about this for some time. We know that at that particular hospital there's been many many of a concern that's come before the council. We've done resolutions. We've done certain things. And certainly, this particular act will go a long way, but also to inform us on St. Vincent's employs a number of Worcester residents.

The National Labor Relations Board made some findings that way as well. And at the end of the day, when you're talking about ratios, of Nurses to Patients. They talk about the handoff between clinical and medical providers. While there's a jurisdiction question, what's not in question, Mr. Chairman, is that the public health of our constituents and our residents is within it. And that is without question, Mr. Chairman. So those are my two motions. I'm sorry, not motions, my friendly amendments. If they're not accepted, I'll make them as separate motions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm signing on.

Okay, so we'll send this to the manager. As amended, Councilor Bergman.

I was just going to add an explanation for my vote, which will be no on this one. This is a private entity. also have issues with how they treat patients, allegations of how they treat patients, allegations regarding their care, but I can't envision us having any jurisdiction over anything that happens in the private hospital. If this were UMass, I would still think we would have issues, but at least there's a public funded institution. The analogy of the Worcester Public Schools to me proves the point. This isn't a Worcester entity. Worcester Public Schools are. This is a private entity. I hope the Department of Public Health comes down, investigates, and does what they need to do to get say if it's a hospital up and running in the way it should be, but I can't as a city councilor ask our health department, and I know it's not the health board, it's the health, it's the board of, I'm sorry, it's the board of health, not the committee,

I can't in good conscience ask them to investigate something in a private institution that we have no business investigating. That's what the Department of Public Health does. That's what they should do. Our Board of Health has plenty of other things to do. I don't think my no is going to change the result of this, but I at least wanted the opportunity to explain where I was coming from.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Council Rosen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do dislike when Councilor Bergman changes my orders and what I'm suggesting. I didn't ask the Board of Health to do anything yet. I asked our city solicitor for a report concerning the feasibility of the City Council requesting the Board of Health. Councilor Bergman, that's something you can support. maybe the city solicitor will come back and say, oh, that's a no-no, you can't get involved. St. Vincent Hospital may be injuring and putting in danger. Patience, residents of the City of Worcester, but I'm sorry, Worcester City Council, you can't get involved in that. That's not your jurisdiction. It sure as hell is our jurisdiction, Mr. Mayor, if these are Worcester residents and their health and welfare is threatened by the St. Vincent Hospital.

OK, especially the administration run by Tennant Healthcare of Dallas, Texas. We've had this problem for years. It's so easy to say, it's not our jurisdiction. It's not our job. I knew that was coming. Why do you think I worded the audit the way I did? because I knew there would be this discussion that someone would say, it's not for us. We shouldn't be talking about it. We shouldn't be looking at it. That's a terrible attitude. A good healthy attitude is to ask the city solicitor what she thinks in her expert opinion. She's much more expert than I am. So I'm looking to her. She may come back and say, yeah, you can just ask the Board of Health to take a look. They have every right. I didn't say. I didn't say the city council. should take a look at this. And I didn't even say my that I chaired, my public health committee should take a look at it.

I tried to write it so we could get people's support, so we could make sure over the next several years that people who go to St. Vincent Hospital like me and my family who go there are just always safe and we get the best care and the best equipment possible and maybe we can do better with our involvement maybe Leapfrog won't rate the St. Vincent Hospital grade D 34 worst rating of 39 hospitals. We don't have to accept that, Mr. Chair. We shouldn't accept that. We mustn't accept that. So I'm just asking for my colleagues, please support the referral to the city solicitor and let her come back with her recommendation, then we may have the same discussion again. But at least we'll have something official in front of us from someone who knows you know what we can do as a City Council to protect the patients in the City of Worcester who go to St. Vincent Hospital. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Councilor Mitra, what purpose do you arise? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Can we have an opinion of the city solicitor now about what the city solicitor thinks about it?

King. Madam Solicitor, no? Did I get a report?

I asked for a report. I asked for a report.

Not now. She needs to look at it. She needs to get back to us. Okay. Okay. Councilor King, would the person rise?

Sure. I don't have a problem with drawing my amendment and making the motions if it'll make it more palatable. I'm not sure. I hope we can all just get along. but just want to offer that but I'm also okay with it staying in through the show.

Does that make a difference? No, I mean, I'm entitled to my opinion.

I respect other people's opinions. I respect mine. I don't arm twist other people, change their minds. And this isn't something I'm going to change my mind on. But again, I don't think it's going to make a difference. I think it's going to go forward.

Dr. Mitra, what purpose do you rise?

We're just looking at this point to get a report from the city solicitor, right? Say that again? City solicitor's report, is that what we're asking for?

That's what he's asking for, correct. Thank you. Right, yeah. Okay, so as amended, yes vote would be to go forth to Gary Council Rosen's order, refer to the law department, and no vote would not be, okay, roll call.

Bergman? No. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo?

Yes.

Councilor King? Yes. Councilor Mitra.

Yes.

Councilor Ojeda.

Yes.

Councilor Rivera. Yes. Councilor Rosen. Yes. Councilor Toomey and Mayor Petty.

Yes, okay. We are on 13F, we're gonna take it with H, I, and O. So the first one up is, Request City Manager, request the Commissioner of Public Works to provide a report to the City Council outlining the City's plan to address potholes now and as the weather breaks this spring. Said the report should include the following. How many crews are dispersed throughout the City filling and repairing potholes? What type of material does the City intends to use to fill the potholes? And if any new, more pertinent patching or new asphalt, Mugen? will be used, and if not, reasoning behind such a decision. Further requests to that said report shall include how many potholes and streets that the city can expect to have filled, Per DPW Crew, and Per Shift, as well as whether the city can subcontract some of the work to private companies and augment the city's efforts to get the potholes done in a quick, timely, affordable manner. By Councilor Economou, we also have HINO, I might just do these one together.

Can you read 1302 so we can take that with it? Yeah, I'm gonna do that too.

13H, Recruiting City Manager, Parks, and Chief Information Officer review the provided report. The City Council is in the feasibility of installing Vehicle mounted LIDAR and sensors on the vehicles report potholes and modernize the city roadways conditions reporting rapid data driven approach. This goes to have a city with no potholes, bring safety not only to vehicles, but protect residents from potential Health has its further request to see manager consider reviewing technologies offered by CYVL and infrastructure intelligence platform that shows the user exactly what the needs Fixing and what it will cost and how can it get done. And we have a C attachment to that. Then we have I. Request City Manager to request both of these by Dr. Mitra. Request that the City request Commissioner of Public Works and Chief Information Officer to provide a report to the City Council concerning

ARES, the world's first autonomous vehicle that detects and seals road surface cracks to prevent potholes from forming. So as autonomous technology can be less expensive option in comparison to conventional methods of sailing, road service cracks, and potholes. And also we have O by Councilor King. Request the City Council to provide the Council with a report outlining any emerging technology, providing predictive analytics and GIS-based tools available to the City to help Department of Public Works and others related departments in assessing, addressing and moderating portals from within the city for a request that the report include information concerning potential pilot programs, associated costs, Economou, funding sources and any operational or technological limitations to implementing technologies and the goal of improving efficiency response time and the long-term roadway maintenance planning citywide. Councilor Economou.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We went into this winter season, the roads were already deplorable. Very tough shape. and as we know coming out of this season they're going to be just as bad if not worse and I don't feel the system that is in place today is adequate to even say catch up stay on top of it. Whatever word you want to use, it's not adequate. The call in where you see a pothole and let's get it fixed is not gonna solve this problem, not even close. I drove up West Boylston Street today from, I was right about just crossing the bridge there at Two Chefs, all the way up to the summit. I thought about it as I was driving. And it's like, all right, how long would it take a crew to fill these holes?

And on West Boylston Street, it's not just potholes. It's about two inches of asphalt that's come off the surface of the road. all the way up to the summit, I would say it would take a crew more than a day to just handle West Boylston Street. It shouldn't be just go do this one pothole in front of this property. We need a succinct plan, Mr. Manager. We need a plan, we need to know how many crews are gonna be out there on a daily basis, what kind of material is gonna be used, are we doing anything different to get this to be a little more permanent than shoveling another shovel of asphalt into the hole. And if we can use private contractors I'm all for it. And I think it's something we've come to the point where we have to look at doing business a different way. What we have before us is not working.

and it's just not, we're never gonna get ahead of it and I'm really worried about what we're gonna come into this spring season, especially after this winter. So that's where I am with it. I know the mayor brought this forward a few weeks ago as well. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'm just trying to get more information. I want to see a plan. I think the people of Worcester deserve a plan, and they do deserve to see Action. Permanent action. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Dr. Mitra. Councilor Mitra.

Thank you Mr. Chair, to you, to the administration. I have this request. with a little background that I can give that this is the month of February. We're already ending February. Two months have gone by for So we have 10 more months left for this year. And I see that we have a responsibility to do something. That's what we're all here for. I think that we want to make this city more affordable, livable, comfortable so that people can come here. As you mentioned in the police chief's report, they want to see that everybody raises their family, lives here comfortably.

At the same time, my ultimate goal is to see that this city has jobs, well-paying jobs, and for that we also need to have a position that we can entice and attract the business owners to come here. In order to make this happen, I think it's important for us that we launch something that makes this city more safe, comfortable, livable. And there are many things that needs to be done for that. One of the things that we need to do is affordable housing, good schools. We should have good hotels. We should have the best situation in our city, the traffic, the safety. We talk about airports, we talk about the flights, some of the government agencies, like we have IRS office, we need to have immigration office, so that the business owners, people, those who live here, find all the tools. We are second largest city. We have 200,000 plus people. We need to do better to serve our city.

And one of the things that I think we can bring is the safety. and then when I think about the safety we have been seeing and I'm so happy to see that we have other councilors today joining talking about the same thing that I think very seriously is of severe concern in our city is the potholes. makes our city more safer if we don't have one. So today jointly, all together, I'd like to say that let's launch a mission. that this council has a goal that tomorrow this city will have no pothole. That's our goal. Let's do that. Now, how can we do that? I started doing research. I like to be more proactive than reactive. We received the phone calls. We received the 311 calls that there is a pothole there. We fixed it. And as you reported, Mr. Manager, that there were 11,000 some potholes were deported and fixed.

But there are probably 11,000 more sitting there that we don't know of. So how can we really detect that? As Councilor Economou was saying, that we need to do more things to really take care of this problem once for all. We really want to see that this city's pothole I started looking for some other opportunities and I saw that there are three graduates from our own WPI The names of them are Daniel Palias, Noah Parker, and Noah Boudris. They graduated in 2020 and they opened their own business in Somerville. and their goal was, they're civil engineers, so name that company CYVL, civil.

and they have the devices that uses today the AI technology, the LiDAR technology, that is the light indicator detection technology and also the imagery technology. So they can take pictures of all the potholes. They can detect how many potholes are there. Their slogan is, Let's be proactive, not reactive, which is what my slogan is. So I thought, oh, this matches well. Can we contact them? They're our own graduates. They are serving about 400 cities today to fix their potholes. They've gotten a huge venture capital for doing their business. I think we should try to go and talk to them and see that if there is a possibility for them to come. I don't know if it has been talked of that they have been contacted or not, but I can run a probably a small video to show what they can do for us.

I think City Clerk Mr. Vangeli will be able to probably project it for us so we can take a quick look at what they are capable of doing.

Some time away, but something else will be popping up on our road soon and really kind of already have, right? I've hit a few hot holes. Me too.

Wondering like, ooh, did I just damage my car?

Some of them have been that big.

Yeah, those holes are simply an effect of nature or are they? Transportation reporter Caitlin Hunt introduces us to a company that says otherwise.

Let's eliminate potholes forever.

As soon as we get rid of all this snow and ice, our next job that we're going to have to tackle are these guys. Hot Holes. Luckily, there is a company out there, though, that is working to help cities detect which roads are good and which ones need a little more attention. Daniel Poliz is the CEO of that company.

What our technology does is essentially help find those small issues before they become a massive problem.

And he and the team at Civil created this.

We have this sort of magical box that helps us collect all this data on roads. We have your classic 360 camera. There's a lens on both sides. and that does that 360 street view. And then this sort of hockey puck looking thing, this is the LIDAR. So this is a laser scanning technology that builds a sort of 3D map that we can use. It just plugs into the cigarette lighter of any vehicle.

The box just sits on top of the vehicle as city street departments do a ride through of their streets.

This is essentially just showing the outputs, the results of what our sensor sees on the road. So we can go in and automatically see what's the condition of that road.

pinpointing cracks that could later turn into potholes.

Much less expensive to fix just a small crack than this massive hole in the ground.

And giving money and power back to local governments.

We're using technology to give that power back to the governments, give them those resources in-house and essentially, again, multiply the resources they have.

Metro Parks is already using the civil technology, but civil is hoping to expand to other cities, so hopefully these guys won't be here this time next year. For News 5, I'm Caitlin Hunt.

So you can see that there's a possibility that we can probably get in touch with them and see what they can do for us. And particularly, I think, since they from WPI, from our own city, and graduated from here. These three people have been mentioned and recognized in Forbes magazine as the 30 under 30. So they're all very young. So that's one thing. Would you like me to talk also about my 13i item?

Yeah, I can correctly talk about that.

Yeah, so it is in the same line. This is another company I found. They are actually in Liverpool, UK. But they have now come to USA. And they are serving here in our North American region They have started from July 2025 in Chicago. And their name is Robotiz3D. And they have the technology which they use a robot. that can go through your streets, detect the potholes, fix the potholes. They are all equipped and you can remotely control them. Maybe you can see another shot of the video for that purpose. of the robotic technology, how they can use it.

Robotize is trying to address a need that I think everyone is familiar with. We have all bumped into bottles in our roads. In the UK alone, about one cyclist gets injured every week. Due to the portal, if you look at the claims for vehicle damage, it's about 4 billion per year. And it's clearly the way we are maintaining our road is not working. I'm very excited about the work we are doing in this company because it's so cutting edge that we are really exploring the unknown and we need to come up with a solution to the problem that we are facing. So RobotEyes is a spin-off company from the University of Liverpool. Our mission is revolutionising the road maintenance sector by introducing automation and autonomous platforms in it. What we have in mind is a difficult product which basically embeds artificial intelligence, robotics, sensing and so on. So we have split our development in three phases.

The first one is about sensing the defects and characterizing the road condition with very high accuracy. Then the next phase will be our

Let's prevent.

which is basically sealing cracks when they are detected with an autonomous vehicle so that they don't evolve into potholes and the third phase will be what we call Arres Ultra which is basically not only sealing cracks but also fixing potholes. Up to now we have fully developed RSI which is our first product, it's on the market now and we have a working prototype of RS Prevent that we are currently trialling.

I guess you got an idea about these robotics, how they can automatically fix, you can remotely control. It's known as Autonomous Road Repair System. That's what the ARRES comes from. What I think is the matter of pothole, as we all feel, is of severe concern because it's not only the damage to your vehicle, but it's also a potential health hazard. I got an email the other day from someone who was driving up on College Street near Holy Cross said that I ran over a crater and it's not only that my tires were slashed but my windshield cracked and I have a back surgery, I got hurt. So it could be potential. We are a city where we have a lot of seniors staying here. We have a lot of children who are in the back of the seat. And if something like that happens, so I think it does have another impact besides damaging our vehicle.

and also city also sometimes have to pay the reimburse if something like that happens to the damage to the car. So I think it is important for us to see that what we can do So that's why I say let's all today launch that goal that we will have no pothole and let's do something so that someday I dream this that we can all hear inside and outside this city We can hear this t-shirt which says, Proud to be in Worcester. City with no pothole. I will order 200,000 of them if this gets done because that's my mission to see that this becomes a city of no pothole. Thank you so much.

Okay. Mr. Manager.

That teacher just threw me off for a second here. To the chair, to the council, I think one of the- This went too well. Yeah, yeah. One thing that actually is it's good for me to see is that we're not the only city dealing with potholes. Even UK is dealing with potholes. and we know that we are approaching the season of that. I do want to just touch quickly on 13H, the company Civil. That individual Daniel actually came to will meet with me when I was in the Office of Innovation, when we started the Office of Innovation in 2019. He sat with my office, we talked through it, we actually went to the Hope Cemetery and he was testing out the technology then and we were working with the former commissioner to put that system in all of our trash vehicles because our trash vehicles go throughout the city

In that process of negotiating to try to get a PO, to try to get them to come into the city, they actually pivoted. And what they chose to do was not to put the things on the vehicles, on city vehicles, what they chose to do is that they would themselves capture the data and they would then themselves create an opportunity for communities to subscribe and have a subscription to their data and access that data. The Department of Transportation and Mobility, about a year or year and a half ago, actually got into contract with them. We are in contract with Civil. Part of the technology that we've used to inform the pavement management program that we've communicated to the council on how we're going to address our streets, that's the technology and the data that they use.

Also, the data that's provided to the district council for their selection of streets is used from the data that we get from this civil company. The individual, Daniel, that group, they're out of WPI. They're very smart, young individuals. They've grown their business significantly. but I remember us at Hope Cemetery putting that in behind a vehicle and going through the city and trying to find ways that we can support them as an innovative company here locally. But I do want to say that we're working with them. Our Department of Transportation and Mobility is currently active. Not only they have the ability to, as part of their LiDAR technology, is not only for potholes, They can tell us how many crosswalks in the city. They can tell us street trees also in the city. They can give us significant information because that LIDAR technology, what it's doing,

It's capturing an image of the built environment in our community, which help us to inform us on our entire built infrastructure in the city. So we strongly support the work that they're doing work. currently working with them and is part of that information that's informing us to provide better plans and better strategies to the council like the pavement management program to better address our streets moving forward. I definitely hear the pothole situation. That's an area that we need to strengthen, and we look forward to further conversation on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor King. Yeah, yeah. Then we ask the following by Councilor Ojeda, Councilor Toomey, Councilor Rivera, Councilor Economou.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My particular order, and I'll get to the other ones first. Well, first I'll start off with Councilor Economou's request for a plan. Certainly makes sense. I'd like to sign on to it, Mr. Chairman, with respect to what the City Manager just revealed is important information. Appreciate Councilor Mitra's request regarding LIDAR and feasibility. I do wonder where that data sits regarding LIDAR Mr. Chairman so I'd make a motion that we get that data along with any corroborative data relative to responsiveness and broken down and aggregated appropriately. So I'd like to sign on to that. I'll speak on I in a moment. But in regards to my particular request, first, I didn't know all these were on here because we're not allowed to know just for the public's purposes.

We can't know what's on the agenda from our colleagues. My request is for predictive analytics. So we have on here Quest for a Plan. We have on here the LIDAR subscription service where that data is being where data is being collected. I'm looking for some protect predictive and projective analysis in any emerging technologies including I think what we just talked about LIDAR and GIS based tools available to assist us in the work. What we do know is that we do not want to be known as Pothole City. We've had a tremendous amount of snow I've seen, I've had communication from folks all over the city and my The idea here is to really assess, address and ameliorate the potholes.

and specific in this as well as a request for potential pilot program and the research that I did, there are pilot programs in other cities where this predictive analysis works and from what I heard from the manager just briefly watching this that there is an ability based on cracks to do some of that but there's also you know, some repeated patterns of potholes. We had an issue over there in and I think it's District 5 over on Moreland Street that the city manager has been addressing, you know, 50, 60, 78 potholes in very short that needs a long-term solution, but they're able to commit to a short-term and then the long-term. Mr. Chairman, one of the thoughts I also have had and repeated on this floor is a way to incentivize our employees.

And this is not a motion or an order. but just once again just kind of put it out there for the manager to chew upon as a potential incentive and that is we have throughout the city. It could be issues with the snow. It could be potholes. It could be dumping. It could be areas of the city that need attention. And we have city employees that traverse those areas on a regular basis. And it's not the function of their job to engage in that or to report that. Same thing with police and fire. It's not their job to report an illegal dumping or a pothole or what have you. but there are public safety implications Mr. Chairman. So I would just suggest just verbally that we consider there's a way to incentivize those employees I don't know maybe it's a you know whoever reports the most credible I don't know.

But if there's a way to incentivize that's not harming the budget and does not impact or impede operations, I think we should pursue it, Mr. Chairman. In addition to that, pilot program, as has occurred in other localities across the country. they have been realized. There are funding sources. Of course there's costs and there's some perhaps barriers to implement in such technology. But it will improve efficiency. Mr. Chairman, Obviously, we have a concern here. We know what's coming, just like we know that the many budgetary challenges. We have here a reduction in city aid in one of the reports from the state.

We have reductions in city aid. so we have some real harsh realities here but there's some sort of piloting that we can do a predictive analysis that would be great Mr. Chairman so I hope folks support this Mr. Chairman, I do have some concerns that I just put on in my notes section here as we were talking relative to 13I. and 13 I calls for an autonomous vehicle to engage in some of this pothole and I have to be honest, I stand in full opposition to autonomous vehicles in the city of Worcester. They are job killers, Mr. Chairman, and they're also people killers. These actual autonomous vehicles, you know,

They are very, very much known that they are a threat to workers, as I mentioned, that drive for a living. In addition to that, public safety. They don't recognize stop signs. they don't recognize the stops on the school buses in addition to that Mr. Chairman regarding public safety in some of the places where they are actually in operation there's close to a hundred incidents where they've been found to block fire trucks, police, and ambulances, Mr. Chairman. So I have some real questions on that. I certainly appreciate the spirit. I have concerns about legal liability, Mr. Chairman. as it relates to this as well. And as I mentioned, community safety, Mr. Chairman. So I'm going to hold this item under personal privilege so I can do some further research. We have a couple of weeks out and I will do my due diligence in regards to what the current

and I have significant concerns. But I support everything else and I'll sign on to them. And you know, to the city manager, I appreciate the information and I'm hoping that we can look into all this stuff in short order because we know the thawing is coming and people are going to be asking questions. So as soon as we can get to that, the better. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Councilor Ojeda, what purpose do you rise?

Just for clarification. Through the Chair to the City Manager. We have a pothole program in place, that's correct?

Mr. Manager.

Through the Chair and the Councilor, yes. In the past couple of weeks, we mobilized four units across the city. Unfortunately, we had to put it to the halt because we had quite a bit of snow coming. But as soon as we're able to tackle the snow and get through and start seeing some of the roads that need to be addressed, we will definitely start to address them in a proactive way. but also at the same time we're responding quite a bit to a lot of the requests that we're getting right now in the city.

Thank you. You know, two weeks ago, I actually saw them in action. Two gentlemen pulled up, they had the truck filled with all the equipment they needed to cover up the holes, and I think what needs to happen, we need to do a better job of communication. I had asked them what are some of the issues they face when filling these potholes and dealing with these issues. One was, the major thing is residents with their cars in the way. Parking in the street. So when they get to a site and they're supposed to fix a pothole, if there's a car in the way, they have a hard time being able to fix that. So do the chair to the city manager is the way the gentleman showed me he has a list that they go out every day when they have that list and they do their best to hit these holes. Is there a way to notify residents? of where and when these potholes will be filled.

And again, that's another way to help making sure that these potholes get done. To the chair.

Mr.

Manager.

Through Chair to the Council, that would be something that we would have to spend some time thinking through, just quickly thinking. It might be a little bit daunting because They're all over the city. They're coming in through 311 requests, council requests, et cetera. So it might be a little difficult to inform residents on a real-time basis. because we may get a and oftentimes we try to do it within 24 to 48 hours. Right. And so if we get a call today that there was a pothole in that, you know, it could be tomorrow morning that someone's there and to give information and to give notice to residents that quickly and It might be difficult. Something that we can consider, but it's something that's a little bit more difficult.

Okay, no, that's good to know. I mean, that's something that, as a council, I'll be able to share. The residents, let them know. That's something that, at least, we're working on as a city. Also, you had mentioned that you were hoping to get these on the on the trucks, I guess Casella, the trash, the people that pick up the trash, on the city trucks, through the chair. Have we been able to do that?

Maybe I missed that. So to the chair, to the council, no. The company, what they did is that they themselves go across many municipalities. And what they do is they themselves Capture the data. And then what they do is now they have this data available. And if you want access to that data, you just have to subscribe and pay a subscription with them to access that data. Based on what you pay and what your contract is, it's what the data is available to you. Like I said, they have all types of data and information on the built environment, depending on how much more you need and what more you you're going to require it can cost more depending on because again it's all the selection based so that's typically what they've been doing.

Okay, thank you. Lastly, I know Councilor King had mentioned this and I'm not sure if I heard an answer or maybe I just missed it. There are departments that are out there on a daily basis, right? Inspectional services, WPD, trash pickup. Is it asked upon them to notify? Directors, or just are we working on creating some type of app, whatever. I know we want to do that with the trash bins, when the trash bins aren't working. I mean, when they're not well, broken or whatever. that Castello would probably switch them out, whatever. So what is that process? If there's any conversations regarding that?

Through the chair to the council, Asking multiple departments or multiple offices or individuals to do that, it's a whole different approach because it's outside of the scope of work. asking a police officer or even a firefighter to say that you're out there, you're responding, your job, it should be responding to that call and not paying attention to a pahala. If you ask them to do that differently, then now you're asking them to add a potential a potential job, a scope to their work, which means that you have to bargain that. And that's part of contract negotiations with the union. that again if there's particular union that their job is to do that work and now I'm asking another union body to do that work that also is a conflict. So that's something again that we play a balance on. Again, what we need to focus on here is working with our Department of Public Works

working with our current staffing, working with our current technologies. Are there additional technologies that we can apply? Are there other efforts that we can work with? with contractors or utility companies, et cetera, to enhance the ability for us to maintain. But also at the same time is also our pavement management program that's extremely important because the way we manage our surface will reduce potholes in the long run. If we're not doing a good job in crack sealing, if we're not doing a good job in using the right technology to seal are roles or resurfaces the role they need to, et cetera, et cetera, then that creates more opportunities for potholes in the long run. So again, there's some things that we can do in the short term, but in the long run, our pavement management program is to be able to address this so that it can reduce the risk of potholes creating themselves.

To eliminate that to zero, it's going to be very, very difficult because we live in New England and we have an infrastructure that requires constant utilities, et cetera, to dig under. right there are the communities that they don't really need to do that everything is overhead right and they don't have sewer system they may have a septic system or they have different systems So, urban communities present different challenges, but again, that's something that we would work directly with the Department of Public Works, finding those different technologies to be able to address that. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, we have Councilor Toomey.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I rise for clarification. My daughter is a graduate of WPI. She's the civil engineer graduate. And I can tell you that. many dinner conversations we have these discussions about these types of things and I filed orders on these especially this specific camera data-driven camera with the LIDAR and census. actually in 2004 was the last one I did May 7th 2024 provide counsel with a report concerning the feasibility using camera technology and City Vehicles to identify locations where potholes need to be filled.

And then also, regarding potholes, the previous year I filed an order requesting the Commissioner to, with a report concerning potential, there was a new form of pothole fill which I was told it would hold up much better than what was currently used. So there have been orders that we filed and I think that they resulted in us being able to utilize this company with LiDAR. But I think it's really important that we continue to improve. I remember also filing an order regarding an automated pothole filler that actually they have laser cuts out The pothole, whether it's a square or a circle, and they actually have a patch that goes right into it. and it's sealed right there. It's a really innovative machine. And so there's certainly a lot of different things that we could be using. So to this end, I wanna certainly support this, but I also wanna say,

We should be having conversations with WPI with their civil engineering department because the students are constantly working on projects and certainly we should I ask if there's anything that's out there right now that we could be doing to improve what we're already doing. And so I would ask that in a form of a motion that we have a conversation with their civil engineering department, and the students, and they do projects, they do MQPs and IQPs, and certainly this would be a great opportunity for us as well.

Thank you. Okay.

I want a clarification because I heard the administration mention something to the church administration. You mentioned that we are working with civil at the moment on other aspects of that. Is there, is this off the table as far as that, or is that still a negotiation as far as the, you know, they- Mr.

Manager?

No, we are in contract with them in terms of accessing data that helps us to inform on how we're addressing our streets. That's why we presented a pavement management program. Part of what this data allows us to have is information about the PCI, which is the pavement index for the city. I think we have one of the best in the state and that's based on the data that they've provided. They also, part of the analysis of the Pavement Management Program looked at the pavement index and looked at technologies like this in terms of if we want to get to a percentile of pavement index as a city, which is probably one of the best, if not in the state, is to us to get to that level, how much do we need to fund a pavement management program and what technologies do we need to implement to be able to get there. And that was something that we presented to the council body.

This council body supported as part of the budget process so that we can make sure that we realign our funding to be able to match our progress and our work to get to that level of PCI that we want to have as a city because that gets us to the top. And that's something that this body supported as part of the Pavement Management Program. and as part of the budget process. And that's something that we're funding right now to that level and we're gonna continue to work. This is the first year that that happened. This fiscal year is the first year where we've implemented that. We did a lot of the chip seal. That was one of the technologies that was introduced this year as part of that. So again, every season moving forward, we're going to go in that direction.

Awesome. I was very happy to see this order 13F and 13H, which I'd like to sign on to as well. Glad the city is moving in that direction, as we all know, not just my district, but the whole city is having a lot of issues with power holes. So I'm really happy to hear that the city is working with the company civil.

Councilor Economou?

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate everything everybody's brought forward, the technology, the different plans, the pavement management system. We don't have to leave this building and go a hundred yards before we hit a pothole. I'm talking about what are we gonna do today, tomorrow, the next few months to address the potholes that we have in the city. I think the people of this city need to hear that, hey, we're going to have five crews out there every day, weather permitting. I don't know. Can we do 100 potholes in a day? Is it 50? Is it 20? Is it 200? I don't know. But that's what needs to come down, sir, Mr. Chairman.

When I was driving up West Boylston Street today, I was thinking, all right, if I called every single pothole I came across here, I'd still be sitting on West Boylston Street making a call. There's that many. We don't have to go. here, there. You just gotta go 100 yards around this building, you're gonna hit potholes. I appreciate all the technology. I appreciate everything everybody's brought forward. We're not at that point yet. I'd be against spending any money other than what are we going to do to repair these potholes today. It's costing the drivers of this city thousands of dollars in front-end repair. That's where I stand on this Mr. Chairman and I hope I know the City Manager has heard it, he's heard it from all of us in this room, how much of a priority it is, and I expect to see some type of plan as we go forward into the season.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Councilor Mitra, followed by Councilor King. Thank you Mr. Chair.

I think what Councilor Economou said is absolutely right that you know we have so many potholes that it is something that we need to take it very seriously To the administrators, I would like to say that let's have a goal that when can we really take care of it. I know that we've been working on it. You said the civil has been contacted. But where do we stand with respect to that? My idea was to bring in the technology that is available, maybe we can communicate with them and see that they could be used or not, how much it costs, can we really get it done with a date set in our mind that by next summer, something like that. So people know that we're working and we have a deadline when we intend to finish this job. will arrive again. But at least what we have in our store, if we can proactively find that out and take care of it with the date set in our mind, I think that will give our residents a good relief that they're working on it and it's going to take an end. So that's my

Request, and I think everybody brought in, and I will sign on, and Councilor Economou, Councilor King, that technology that he wants to look for, and King. The planning is certainly very important that we really get on to it and be serious about it. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I meant to ask this question. up on my item, 13-0. And that's to the city manager, and I think he might be able to answer it right now. But through the chair, when it comes to Worcester Housing Authority properties or Plumlee, I can't remember who owns that now. but those sorts of properties are the, my understanding is that's not all the streets are city streets there. I think Tacoma is a city street. I did get a report of 40 something potholes on Tacoma, you know, just today. right before the meeting I got it. I don't know if it's accurate or not, but that's the report I got. it's my understanding just from years ago that maybe the other streets aren't ours so if you get some clarification on that because I think and what our role is if any on the How does it work?

Whoever it is, which streets are ours, which aren't, how does that work through the chair?

Mr. Manager?

Yeah, through Chichester Council, there are some streets that are ours and some that are not. The responsibility of fixing some of the potholes and addressing some of the challenges there is also kind of a mutual Arrangement between the City and the Housing Authority, Plumlee, etc. I can get a better understanding and better report to you in terms of the details of what streets So you know specifically Tacoma Street is us. This particular street in housing authority is not ours. Plumlee Village, Laurel Street is ours, right? Because it goes right through it. But there's other around it that may not be ours. But there is a relationship there between our Department of Public Works and their teams to address some of the areas.

Thank you. I think that intersection is important for the council to know to serve us in our advocacy, Mr. Chairman. And I would like that report by the way of a motion. Again, We have to be able to respond. I agree with Councilor Economou. We need a resolution or some momentum or movement in the now. I think we need that as the snow thaws and not much later than that, Mr. Chairman. I know you've been working on this A lot. And just want clarification. I was not saying that we would require Police on the way to a 911 call to do anything outside of their duties. And nor am I saying that it would be a requirement. I'm just saying that perhaps some sort of incentive where someone may, the winner may get.

you know a personal day if they elect to participate might go a long way um to our city employees it might be um you know well some morale boosting there but Certainly something to consider, but by no means would I think that that would occur without any sort of negotiation and not a requirement by any stretch of the imagination. So I appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Right, I filed that last week. Good discussion tonight though. Okay, we will, with the amendments and the orders, along with 13... F, H, and O I refer those to the manager as amended in additional orders. Roll call.

Councilor Bergman? Yes. Councilor Bilotta? Yes. Councilor Economou? Yes. Councilor Fresolo? Yes. Councilor King? Yes. Councilor Mitra? Yes. Councilor Ojeda?

Yes.

Councilor Rivera? Yes. Councilor Rosen? Yes. Councilor Toomey?

Yes.

Mayor Petty? Yes. So ayes held on the privilege, okay. We are on 13G. Request the manager to request the chief financial officer to provide accounts with a report regarding the process to see users collect Community Preservation Act funds from property owners. is always where the city has collected duplicate funds directly from the property owners or through their mortgage escrow accounts since CPA's inception. so the report should also include information regarding to whether they double payments have been made by property owners and the process used to credit back those property owners. Affiliate request city manager, request city, and Chief Financial Officer make a publicly available list of all property owners that have paid double for the CPA True Charge individually and through their mortgage or school accounts so that property owners can request their rightful refunds immediately. Councilor Economou.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Now, this came to me from a constituent midweek last week, which I wasn't aware of, I guess. You get your notice in the mail. You can pay your CPA funds, $30, whatever it may be. It comes here to the city. But if you have a mortgage, Your mortgage company is also getting notice as a tax and is also paying that fee out of your escrow dollars. Now for me, I think it's wrong that the municipality, that the city of Worcester has collected two payments on something and has not immediately refunded the payment made by the taxpayer. without question.

The process I was told when I inquired about this was, number one, if you made two payments, please call us. We'll look it up. and then we just want to make sure we're sending it back to the right address. Well in my eyes it would be the address that's on the bill that they received and made the payment from. and if that's gonna be the way it's gonna be, then we need to publicize who's double paid so they can just go to the website, check it out, make their request and get their money back. I think it's wrong that we're actually holding onto these people's money if it's been paid twice. and so on. that's how I feel about it and I'd like to see that change. I think the people should get refunded their money without even having to make a phone call and I think it's wrong for us to be hanging onto it.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. We'll send that to the manager. and we'll get a report on that. Because my understanding was that it was supposed to be reconciled and I inquired last year as to if it was supposed to not. But we'll get a report. Councilor King.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to the city manager, through the chair to the city manager.

Hang on one minute.

I'm just, you know, I'm gonna support this. I'm just wondering, has it come to your attention, and if so, to what degree is this an issue? You know, I certainly, I think there's no one here that's gonna disagree with the idea of any sort of double dipping or anything that will create a barrier to returning what's rightfully someone's money. But if you could just share a little bit, if this has come to your attention, and if so, to what degree and how widespread through the chair. Mr. Mayor.

I think one of the things that we realized at the forefront when we started the CPA surcharge or tax to the residents of of the City, one of the challenges that we experienced was that while we were going through a transition of the ERP system, financial system, We haven't yet included the CPA as part of the new payment processing system. And so what we decided to do from the beginning was that if there was any situation where a resident would submit a payment and the mortgage was also, our accountants would reconcile that payment every single time that would happen. There would be a reconciliation for that individual who made that payment. That's something that, again, I'd be happy to provide a report to the council based on this order here, but my confirmation and in discussions with the CFO, the process from the beginning was anytime there was an overpayment or an additional double payment,

Related to the CPA, the Treasury Office will do a reconciliation for the purposes of making sure that residents are not double paying.

Thank you. So this is something that you've, it's been on discussion for a period of time. You were anticipating some challenges when the taxes escrowed into the mortgage. I appreciate that. I certainly will support this. But again, I was just wondering how widespread this. Do you have an idea of how widespread this is?

Mr. Manager.

To the Chair, to the Councilor, I do not know until what extent this situation is right now. And again, that's something that as part of this order here, we can be able to provide more context to that.

I appreciate. Thank you for the contextualization. Thank you.

Councilor Economou, second time.

Mr. Chairman, too, just to further elaborate, too, If you're one of the unfortunate who paid twice, the city does reconcile it. and what they would do is next year you would get that credit. Still, I think it's wrong. If I sent you double payment today, and you're aware of it, I want my money back. It's my money. You have it now. I want it back. It's been paid twice. So that's where things need to get looked at, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Okay, so that's the Manager, roll call.

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

Okay. 13 J, request the manager work with members of the council and local community partners to commission two outdoor LED white displays for the purposes of promoting the City Hall and the City of Whistler to both visitors and the broader public. in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the nation, said LED light display should be installed near the front entrance of the City Hall and the City Hall Common. See attached primary draft of the LED light display. Dr. Mitra. Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Through you to Mr. Manager, this is something that I thought of that we're into the 250th anniversary of our nation. We want to promote our city, we want to let others know about our city and I thought of having this Installation of the LED lights in front of the building in the balcony area maybe. We can decide where it will be best fit. I have the rendition of that in the TV. You can see that. This is done by one of my associates. But we can have one in the back, in the common area, one in the front. in the night it lights and it just looks very glamorous for our city to identity of our city people will see it I have seen in the other countries when I have visited they have this kind of sign and

People come and take selfie in front and having Worcester written in the back and they post in their Facebook or social media promoting our city letting them know that this is Worcester. I think getting people attracted towards making what is happening in city and they go in and see about our city also. It's the city of happening. We know that many things are happening here. We want to attract people to come here. We're trying to make this city livable, comfortable, affordable. And this would be one way, probably, to promote the city, promote the city hall because people will come in summer and take a picture and probably post it. That's my goal. I would say that we partner with WPI students. We partner with WPI and administrators. We also partner with the Worcester Tech. And they can do this kind of job very nicely for us. We have a wealth of intellectual intellectuality in our city for so many colleges. So many professors, so many students.

They can probably work taking this as one of their projects. And they'll be proud of what they did for our city. So that's my goal, ultimately, to promote our city worldwide. and make many people come here and enjoy what we are all about. So that's the request I have.

Okay, I guess we'll send that to the manager for his opinion. Roll call.

Councilor Bregman? Yeah. Councilor Bilotta?

Yes.

Councilor Economou?

Yes.

Councilor Fresolo?

Yes.

Councilor King? Yes. Councilor Mitra?

Yes.

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

Yes. Okay, we are on K. Request the Manager to request the Commissioner of Transportation and Mobility to perform a traffic study in the vicinity of Salisbury and Forest intersection with the purpose of providing greater traffic movement and pedestrian safety. Dr. Mitra. Councilor Mitra.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, to you, to the Manager, I think everybody knows about Salisbury Street and Forest Street. Intersection, Councilor Economou, with your permission also because this is probably a District 1 issue. that it's a very difficult place to take turns. We don't have stop signs. We don't have traffic lights. Should we have a rotary or what? I think that's why I put it in. If the Department of Transportation and Mobility, they can do some kind of research on it, analyze that what can be done. Because right now, it looks like it's very difficult for the traffic to intersect with that Salisbury and Forest which is very very busy and making turns becomes very difficult. It could be also very dangerous so I request the Department of of Transportation and Mobility to kind of do a research and see what we can do, whether it's a traffic light or a stop sign or maybe a rotary. So that's the request.

Okay. Mr. Chairman, if I could just sign on to that as well.

Sure. Thank you.

Sounds amended. Send that to the city manager, roll call.

Councilor Bergman. Yes. Councilor Bilotta. and Mayor Petty.

Yes, 113M, request the manager provide the council with a report and draft ordinance to allow those with a veteran's license plate and or a placket to park for free at the Bergman. On-street meters and surface lots for the request that report and include information concerning whether any reduction in revenue would be realized as well as best practices used in the communities to ensure there is no abuse of the parking regulations from non-veterans. Councilor Bergman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is something that's happening in other communities in and around Massachusetts. I know that we value our veterans' service, and I think it would just be a nice way to continue to show our veterans that we do value their service. Obviously, there would need to be some strategy in place into how to make sure that only the appropriate persons were getting that benefit. There are other communities that have done it by veterans license plates, tying it into their kiosks where people pay. and giving them two hours free parking so on and so forth so I'm sure we don't have to reinvent the wheel if it's the will of the council and I hope it is to look into this I'm sure we can find a way to do this without losing much revenue at all and also to make sure So it doesn't get abused. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

We'll send that to the manager. Mr. Chairman, can I sign on to that, please? Sure. I'll sign on to that. Yep. OK. Everybody want to sign on? Sign on. As amended with the council, sign on. OK. Roll call. Brueggemann?

Yes. Councilor Bilotta?

Yes.

Councilor Economou? and Mayor Petty. Yes.

13N, request amended by Council update concerning previously adopted order on November 18, 2025 relative to conducting a full accessibility audit at the city hall that assesses all physical, digital, and operational barriers and may impeach access to the city councils and the public. said the audit should include but not be limited to the navigation of entrances, exits, stairways, elevators, meeting rooms, and all council chambers, digital and technological accessibility for the councils and public with vision, mobility, hearing, and or processing needs. King, Public Meetings Access, Seating Arrangements and Safety Considerations, Staff Support Systems for Councils and Public Requirements Assistance while navigating City Hall, and Timeline for Corrective Action, Recommendations for Improvements that Align with the State and Federal Accessibility Standards. Councilor King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

So I know that there's been some inroads here, and I know we have a, if the manager would like to speak on it, he may. We're going to be looking at some of the changes that have occurred in City Hall. But this order was filed back in November, Mr. Chairman. It was really to take a look at City Hall in isolation of the other public buildings. that the city owns. And the reason for that, Mr. Chairman, is so that we could take a real in-time look at what the challenges are, where the gaps are, and what the corrective action plan is. And it's not to discount the library. It's not to discount you know, someone going down to Meade Street. But it's really just to take a look at City Hall, not just in symbolism, but in terms of being the heart of city government.

That being said, Mr. Chairman, I know that there is, that the city does have a mobility action plan that's been in action. I do not know specifically what the committee that the manager or commission is currently working on as it relates to this but I just want to reassert that I understand that this building is not where it could be. I understand that we've made some progress. This is not... I gotcha moment. It's an opportunity for us to see where we are, where we're going, and where we need to be in the center of city government here in this people's hall. So that's the reason for this.

Through the Charity Administration, is there a plan that's necessary for the city to provide State Government, or any other sort of entity as it relates to accessibility of our public buildings through the chair.

Mr. Manager?

I'm not aware of any of the plans that we need to provide. We do need to adhere to any building codes, so anything any improvements anything that we make always we need to make sure that we make accessibility at the forefront that's also even in the schools anytime that you surpass I know the Accessibility Commission has played a big role over the number of years in doing audits across many municipal buildings, especially City Hall. where we've been able to change and make some improvements related to the customer service desk when people come in. We've made some improvements to some of the bathrooms in terms of access. to the bathrooms as well. So there's a number of things that we've been able to do over the years to try to adhere to some of these elements. But this is an ongoing kind of

We're always learning, we're always growing and finding new ways that we can provide better accessibility to individuals as they access, especially this building. One of the bodies that we do have to present to often times is either the Historical Commission or the Mass Historic because it's a historic building. And so we need to get their approvals to any times that we make any changes to this building. If it's adding anything to a wall, to kind of infrastructure, etc., but if it's just moving seating around, that's not something that we have to report. But again, we do all of that as part of our efforts to make sure that we provide more accessibility in the building.

Thank you. And I appreciate that explanation. The Accessibility Commission, as you said, has worked on some of these things through the Charity Administration. Is there a way for the Council to provide some sort of oversight respective to the accessibility. I can't recall what maybe the clerk knows. Through the chair to the clerk, what committee is that under with respect to facilities? and perhaps the Department of Transition and Mobility maybe also? Is there like through the chair, is there like an overlay or? in a section at all on that description?

Through the Chair, to the Councilor, my understanding is it falls under Public Works because that is what the, I think, new reorganization coming from the administration was I don't have the exact title of the Department of Public Facilities. That's what I think the manager brought forward.

I'm just wondering the The committee there that Louie's the chair of, what's the name of that committee?

Are you talking about urban technology and innovation? Yes, under that. That is, my understanding is at one point, I think John O'Dell, maybe that's where the confusion is, was the, I think the director of facilities, but then There was a reorganization and then the manager, I believe, split. The Department of Public Facilities is separate from John O'Dell's Sustainability and Resilience.

So I just want to add the public works subcommittee, the reason why buildings and infrastructure was on the public works is they deal a lot with the vertical. because the engineering team played a role and public facilities took over that role but that remained under public works. The transportation and mobility does not play a role because they only deal with the horizontal of the built environment.

Thank you, and who deals with the accessibility issue? What committee is that? Is that public rights, what is that? Public Works. Works as well, okay. Thank you. Is there a way for us to have some more oversight with some more information through the chair? Is there a way that that can be provided?

No, Mr. Manager.

As we provide updates on the reports and any information or any improvements that we need to make to the buildings, those are areas where the committee can provide the oversight in terms of conversations that are happening in the properties.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'd love to see that. And I would just reiterate, I'd like to get this back as soon as possible. I'm not really looking for everything's fixed here, everything's perfect. Again, I'm looking through three phases. related to this. And I know that there is some work that's been done. I commend the administration on that. I know that Bilotta has a lot of experience from that commission. And I really look forward to this building serving as a model. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Councilor Bilotta. Yes, just one as a point of clarification, maybe a friendly amendment to ask for the development of an ADA transition plan, which could be, you know, it's a document that outlines, you know, how the city, how we can remove I think it would be very beneficial to create one for facilities like City Hall, like the library, like public schools that I think and that's something that I know the Accessibility Commission has or had inquired about years ago so

you know I know we're an old city things take time to be made accessible and very appreciative of the strides that you know the city administration has taken you know not just recently but you know previously in regards to you know accommodations I think there's still a lot of work to be done and I hope that there could be more of an urgency around this work just knowing the history myself of how you know long some of the stuff can take um so i i i not you know we're not a fully inclusive city we're not a fully inclusive city hall until we're a fully accessible community and until city hall is fully accessible i know we'll get there but would just like to reiterate that you know having a sense of urgency about it and making sure that those Parking spots are plowed well. I'm not going to miss an opportunity to say that, but I appreciate this and thank you. Thank you.

I'd like to make an amendment for a transition plan.

King.

Mr. Chairman, I certainly accept the friendly amendment. You know, I look forward to us, once again, let's make the City Hall of Worcester the most accessible City Hall in the Commonwealth and the region. Um... or perhaps in the state. And it sounds like maybe it already is. And if it is, let's make sure that we can qualify that and let's make it known. I think that this is a leadership opportunity for us as a council Bergman, Councilor Bilotta, City, and Administration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you.

As amended to the manager, roll call.

Councilor Bergman, Councilor Bilotta, Yes. Councilor Economou? Yes. Councilor Pacillo?

Yes.

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

Yes, 15A, recommend the council convene an executive session with the purpose of conducting contract negotiations related to the reappointment of Nico Vangeli as the city clerk for a two-year term from 2026 to 2028. As in the past, we'll send that to the MLO committee. Okay, Councilor Economou.

If I may, sir. Yeah. I'd like also to request the Committee on Municipal and Legislative Operations review the compensation provided to the deputy city clerk one and deputy city clerk two positions. I'd like to put that in the form of a motion and have that go to committee for discussion as well as this goes down the channels.

Could you repeat that, Mr. Chairman? Go ahead, Councilor Economou.

Can I see it? Yep. Excuse me. Request the Standing Committee on Municipal and Legislative Operations review the compensation provided to Deputy City Clerk one and Deputy City Clerk two positions.

Okay. Mr. Chairman, just a point of order. Council King. Do we point to those positions or is it just the clerks?

Clark's position, but we were involved. To the chair, to the council. So in the past is the clerk provides a recommendation to the city council and used to confirm the recommendation of the clerk. But you appoint the city clerk.

Yeah.

Can you repeat what is the preamble that you made before that?

So basically what the charter reads is every two years the council appoints a city clerk and there's an ordinance for the city clerk department that states that the city clerk appoints the deputy city clerks and then it makes a recommendation also to the city council for confirmation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just for clarification, and I'll make this very clear. I think we have the best deputy city clerks in the Commonwealth. for sure. But my question is regarding the dance or the intersection with the administration side as relates to compensation, et cetera. So through the chair, to the administration, and to the clerk, in whatever order, how does that work? Mr. Mayor. Because those are folks that are under the administration's umbrella, is that correct through the chair?

Through the chair to the council, in some ways yes, but the city clerk has the ability to appoint those individuals. and so then when it comes to salary, that recommendation then comes to the city manager for the actual salary which then gets proposed to the city council.

So it goes from the clerk to the manager to the council.

That is correct. The City Manager proposes any financing recommendations, salaries, salary ordinances, table organizations, that's all through the City Manager.

And that goes to the city manager first. Correct, that is correct. So Mr. Chairman, I would ask that that be sent to the manager. That has not, to go right to committee sounds like it circumvents that. So I would ask that that happen. maybe we can do both at the same time I don't know I'm certainly open to that Mr. Chairman but that would be my recommendation given what we just heard about sort of the flow Do the chair to the clerk. Is there something that would like to be added to this testimony, Mr. Chairman? What's that? Is there something that needs to be added to the testimony?

No, I was just asking how we did it in the past. What is it? We accepted the committee. Not meaning it was right, but that's what we did in the past.

Okay, so let's do it the right way. Can we do both? they can debate it, he can approve it, whatever.

We'll see what the council has to say.

I mean, we are a planning form of government, right? And there's certain processes in place. Part of that requires we hire the clerk, We hire the auditor. We hire the city manager. In the auditor's office, I don't know that we've had things come before us other than through the city manager regarding folks under the auditor. So I need clarification. How is it supposed to work? The chair to whomever. and I think the right way is probably the same manager, right? That would be what I would request. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Unless someone disagrees with me. Mr. Manager?

City Manager has the authority to recommend any appropriations for any salaries. However, the council does have the authority to make decisions to negotiate with the city manager, the clerk, or the auditor, et cetera. But any other staff, the city manager has that authority to appropriate the funds, to recommend the funds, to establish a salary ordinance, and recommend the salary ordinance, and recommend changing the table of organizations.

So Mr. Chairman, I would ask that this be a little more seamless. Maybe these two parties can get that together and we send that to the city manager. That's what I would hope. I know that these sort of things that come before us are often Dunn in conjunction with the Clerk. I'm sure that's what happened with this particular matter, but I would ask that we file the rules, Mr. Chairman. Let's file the rules.

Thank you, Councilor Economou.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't have a problem if it goes to both committees because the recommendation is gonna come from the city clerk to our other employee, the city manager to fund those positions if that's the case. And I think in committee is where more questions, more observations can be made to help guide that directive. Make no mistake about it, we have a world-class clerk's office here. So much so that the largest city in New England, Boston, defers to our clerks here. So it's a big job. It's a great job. We have a great team. They give and they don't say boo about it.

I just want to make sure that that's known and I want to make sure that it's heard in committee in conjunction with the city manager. That's how I would suggest that, Mr. Chairman.

Okay, Councilor King. Councilor Bergman.

Councilor Bergman. If I may, Mr. Chairman, I hear a lot of discussion about what's doing it the right way, and I agree, but what's the right way? I'd like to ask the law department. if they can weigh in, or at least if they can't today, come back with a report, because I'm certainly in favor of doing it the way it's supposed to be done. I know as former chair of MLL, we did it the way that Councilor Economou was suggesting. I think I could stand corrected but my predecessor Councilor King may have done it the same way as well all of a sudden today we're finding out that maybe it's not the right way and maybe it's not but I want to hear that from the city solicitor not from any of us speculating on

Mr. and Mrs. Sousa, everyone.

Through the chair, what is the amendment request specifically?

It comes down to the charter. It comes down to who has the right to give the pay raise to the assistant city clerk.

So through the chair, that is under the city manager's authority. However, I don't, I'm not sure, is that what the amendment was asking?

The amendment's asking that we send to both committee and to the city manager.

So the city manager ultimately has the authority and the discretion to decide and to propose salary and salary changes to the city council. Even though the city council has the authority to hire the clerk, and the clerk recommends assistant clerks, the actual salary ordinance has to come from the administration as part of the budget.

I guess the question is can we send it to the committee?