2026-08-17 - Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee

0:01I'm so glad to see you all here today

0:03and uh generally on MLO meeting I don't

0:04see too many people who is uh

0:06it shows the interest that you all have

0:08in today's meeting for discussing the

0:11charter review.

0:12Welcome to the Standing Committee of

0:14Worcester's Municipal and Legislative

0:16Operations Meeting.

0:18Uh this is Monday, August 17th. Uh we're

0:22happy to host this meeting and have some

0:24nice discussions. That's what my

0:26anticipation is.

0:28I'd just like to introduce you that uh

0:30to my right I have uh

0:32uh Councilor at Large, Mr. Gary Rosen.

0:35And also to my left is Councilor at

0:37Large, Mr. Morris Bergman.

0:40With us also we have the City Solicitor,

0:43Alexander Koulouris and also City Clerk,

0:48Nico Vangjeli. And clerking today with

0:51us is uh Claire Robbins. So, those are

0:54the team that we are here and with that

0:58I'd like to begin the meeting, but I'd

1:01first like to

1:02uh let uh Claire if you can just read

1:05the virtual attendance call-in

1:07information, please.

1:08>> Certainly, through the chair. Pursuant

1:10to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021 and in

1:13order to ensure active public

1:14engagement, the City of Worcester

1:16currently allows for both in-person and

1:18remote participation at all City Council

1:20and Standing Committee meetings. To

1:22partake in the meeting, you may attend

1:23the meeting in person within the meeting

1:25location, which is here the Esther Hall

1:27and Chamber at Worcester City Hall, or

1:29follow the link on the city's website to

1:30join via Zoom or dial the direct line.

1:33If you join a Zoom meeting by dialing in

1:34with a phone number, you can raise your

1:36hand by dialing star nine. The Municipal

1:38and Legislative Operations Committee

1:40Zoom phone number is 1-646-828-7666

1:47with the access code 161-499-9501.

1:56>> Thank you, Claire. Appreciate it.

1:58Um

1:59>> [clears throat]

2:00>> I would just like to mention that

2:03I would like to hear from all of you. I

2:06will give opportunity for you to come

2:07and speak.

2:09Uh

2:09before we do so, uh Claire, if we can

2:13uh do the approval of the minutes of the

2:17last meeting.

2:18The roll call.

2:19>> Councilor Bergman.

2:21>> Yes.

2:21>> Councilor Rosen.

2:22>> Yes.

2:22>> And Chairperson Councilor Mitra.

2:24>> Yes.

2:26Now we go to the agenda items. Uh we

2:29have the miscellaneous item, which is 3A

2:32on the agenda. I'll read that.

2:35>> [clears throat]

2:36>> Just want to let you know that uh

2:38I had a cataract surgery just few days

2:41back, so I may be having a little bit of

2:44blurriness in my reading, so just excuse

2:46me if I'm taking a little time to read,

2:48but I'll do my best. Thank you.

2:50>> [clears throat]

2:51>> Um order of the Councilor Gary Rosen,

2:54Councilor Morris A. Bergman, Councilor

2:56Robert Belota, Councilor Tony Cano,

2:59Councilor John P. Frizalone, Councilor

3:02Christian King, Councilor Sacha B.

3:04Mitra, Councilor Louis A. Wohed,

3:07Councilor Jose Rivera, Councilor

3:10Kathleen Toomey, and Mayor Joe Petty

3:13request standing committee on municipal

3:15and legislative operation hold a public

3:18meeting, public hearing to determine

3:21review of the [snorts] recent to

3:24determine the feasibility and

3:26advisability of the city council miti-

3:30mediate initiating the and supporting

3:34effort

3:35to review the current

3:37modified Plan E city charter, which was

3:40implemented in 1987

3:43and amended in 2022.

3:45This was the request made by all the

3:48city councilors, and that's why we're

3:50holding this meeting.

3:52Um

3:53I would like to hold that particular

3:55item for now for the counselors to say

3:57if there is anything they would like to,

3:59but I'd like to go to item number four A

4:04and have our solicitor going to the

4:07board. A is the transmitting an

4:09informational communication relative to

4:12various options available for making

4:14changes to the city charter. I'd like to

4:17have

4:19solicitor Alexander Kolkunis to make a

4:22presentation to us that will give us an

4:24opportunity to understand what it takes

4:27for us to make a change in the charter.

4:30Uh

4:30and then we have our city clerk also to

4:33make a presentation. So, I'd like to get

4:35those two presentations done and after

4:38you have a good understanding after

4:40those presentations, I'll open up to all

4:43of you to come and uh you know, speak to

4:46me. I know generally I have been doing

4:49this meeting on the day of the city

4:51council meeting, Tuesday, but since I

4:53know this would be an interesting

4:55subject to discuss and I expect a lot of

4:57people to be present here as well as

4:59probably some online. That's why I

5:01wanted to do it on Monday so we can

5:03probably give enough time for everyone

5:06to speak and express their opinion that

5:09they want to achieve. But at the same

5:12time, I don't want the meeting to go

5:14like too long. So, I want everyone to

5:16understand that you know, respect the

5:17time and honor the times. I'll give you

5:20all 2 minutes to speak after we have the

5:23presentation from our

5:26solicitor and the city clerk

5:29made. So, with that, if that's all

5:32acceptable, then I would like to have

5:34our solicitor to make the presentation

5:37of the

5:40charter review.

5:42>> Okay.

5:43So, we just have a PowerPoint on the

5:46um you know, giving a general basic

5:48understanding of what a charter is and a

5:51process, different methods to change the

5:53charter.

5:54Um so, a charter basically is your

5:56foundation of government. It's what sets

6:00the creates a municipality, sets the

6:02form and structure of a government,

6:04meaning is it a strong mayor or strong

6:06manager uh

6:08government. There's legislative

6:10procedures in there, elected office

6:12terms, uh budget requirements, taxation.

6:15Uh we have three general types of

6:17charters, uh plan charters, which is

6:20what Worcester had before its current

6:22home rule charter, and ones enacted by

6:25special legislation.

6:29Um so, as you can see, Worcester uh had

6:32a history of uh special legislation

6:34charters. We had a plan E up until about

6:371985, which is why you hear sometimes

6:40people call the Worcester charter a plan

6:42E, but we're actually a modified plan E

6:45because uh we're we're a home rule

6:47charter. We changed the statute a little

6:49bit.

6:51And that's what we're currently

6:52operating under, the 1985 home rule

6:55charter. Um that has been amended a

6:57couple times, but the most recent in

6:592000

7:002022.

7:04Um so, this is the basic process for a

7:06plan charter, but Worcester does not

7:08operate under a plan charter anymore.

7:10So, this would not be applicable to us,

7:12but you know, there's

7:14voter requirements, um petitions, you

7:17know, all that. So, this is what would

7:18apply if we had a plan charter. We do

7:20not.

7:23Uh

7:24this is uh the process that would apply

7:26to Worcester cuz we have a home rule

7:28charter. Um it's detailed in the statute

7:32about how many uh what percentage of

7:35voters you need to start a petition to

7:37amend or adopt the home rule charter. Um

7:40it's allowed It creates a charter

7:43commission um and then gives timelines

7:46for, you know, public hearings and

7:48submittal of a final charter for review

7:51and adoption.

7:55So, the charter commission is uh

8:00unique to home rule charters. Under a

8:02plan charter, you don't need a charter

8:03review commission. But, if you have a

8:05home rule charter, which is what

8:07Worcester has,

8:08um the statute requires that you have a

8:12formal charter commission that can

8:14review the charter and propose

8:16structural changes to government. Uh

8:19this charter commission needs to be

8:21voted

8:22um

8:23needs to be elected by the voters.

8:24Cannot be appointed by the city council.

8:27And there was a question on who can

8:29serve as a member of a charter review

8:32commission. So, uh technically there's

8:34no restraints in the law. Uh

8:37so, you could have an elected official

8:39or a city councilor or an employee run

8:42to be on a charter review commission.

8:44However, ultimately you cannot serve on

8:47as both uh positions at the same time.

8:49So, if we had say a

8:52city councilor that was no longer going

8:53to be a councilor

8:55when this term would take effect, then

8:57that would be okay. But, you cannot be

8:59an acting city councilor and also have a

9:02position on the charter review

9:03commission.

9:07Uh this is another method of charter

9:10adoption or amendment uh which is

9:12special legislation.

9:14Um this is for your more simple um

9:18straightforward or, you know, unique to

9:21a city or town. Um

9:25Worcester has done this a lot. Uh

9:26Worcester and, you know, petitions um

9:28regarding civil service. Um

9:31this is not an option for reviewing the

9:34entire charter

9:37for for Wester.

9:41Okay.

9:42So, those are your basic charter types.

9:45Um now, you have your methods of

9:46amending a charter. So, Wester has a

9:48home rule charter. Um

9:51there's three methods that we could

9:53amend our charter. Uh by city council

9:56action, which is basically filing home

9:59rule petitions. Um we've done that

10:01recently with um civil service matters.

10:04There's adoption of a home rule charter

10:06or amendment, which is the charter

10:08review commission method. And then

10:11approval of special legislation. Uh

10:13recent example is, you know, to allow um

10:17survivor benefits to uh fallen

10:19firefighter. That's how what the special

10:21legislation is used for.

10:27So, city council action or home rule

10:30petitions,

10:31um these are quicker than having a

10:33charter review commission. Um so, it's

10:36about a 6-month total process.

10:39Uh but, you cannot conduct a global

10:42review or change your form of

10:44government, um terms of any elected

10:47officials, uh or any basically you

10:51cannot alter any um

10:53composition, term, election of the form

10:55of government that you currently have.

11:02Okay.

11:03So, this would be the Wester scenario

11:06now if we were to um you know,

11:09pursue a full review of the existing

11:12charter.

11:14We would have to

11:16do the um home rule amendment process,

11:19and that would require a charter review

11:21commission.

11:23Um

11:24Okay.

11:27It's a little bit more history there,

11:29but the only this basically tells you

11:30the only way that we can do a full

11:32review of our charter and change our

11:35form of government is by the charter

11:36review commission.

11:46Okay.

11:48Um

11:53So, depending on what type of a change

11:57or review that you'd like to perform on

11:59the city's current charter, that would

12:01trigger what method you would amend it.

12:03It would either be via home rule

12:05petition, city council action,

12:08a charter review commission, which is

12:10laid out in the statue, or by special

12:12legislation.

12:14Um the next uh

12:16slide is on some recent charter

12:19provisions that we've been seeing that

12:21are more common. Um modern charters

12:24frequently include an automatic review

12:26process. So, it's usually about 5 to 10

12:29years um that they require that a

12:32committee or a charter review commission

12:34is appointed by the legislative body to

12:36review the charter and make any

12:38recommendations. Uh this is not an

12:41elected commission such as the one that,

12:43you know, we would have to do, but

12:45that's a

12:46seen quite frequently in some recently

12:48updated charters.

12:50Um

12:51and we are seeing more and more of

12:53requests regarding budget authority. Um

12:56so, this is really

12:59I I mean, we are constrained by mass

13:01general laws, so some of these budgetary

13:04items don't really belong in the

13:05charter, but a recent example is

13:07Cambridge.

13:08Um they were reviewing their entire

13:12charter, which hadn't been reviewed in,

13:14I would, you know, over 60 or 70 years.

13:16And so, because they were reviewing the

13:18charter, they added some budget

13:21authority and really codified the

13:24process between the city council and the

13:26city manager as to steps uh to take for

13:29budget season. Um we could currently do

13:33this without amending the charter. The

13:34city has a financial integrity plan and

13:37the city council could request to amend

13:40that and then approve the amendment. So,

13:42if the council were, you know, willing

13:45to or want desire to change that budget

13:48process, that's an option for Worcester

13:50without amending the charter.

13:56And lastly, you asked of um non-binding

13:58ballot questions and

14:01yes, um

14:03you could put a non-binding ballot

14:05question, should we create a charter

14:06review commission on

14:09the next election, um municipal

14:11election.

14:12It's an advisory question. There's no uh

14:14you know, binding or permanent effect of

14:16that.

14:26>> Are you

14:29done

14:32Well, um

14:33Madam [clears throat] Solicitor, thank

14:34you very much for making the

14:36presentation. Um I just like to mention

14:39that uh the whole purpose of opening up

14:43for the charter review is to

14:46for all of us to have some education

14:48about how it is done. So, tonight we're

14:51opening it up to offer you that

14:53opportunity to learn what needs to be

14:56done for us to change anything in the

14:58charter that you all think that should

15:00be done for the benefit of our city of

15:02Worcester. So, we heard from uh

15:06Solicitor

15:07um Alexandra Kokkinis and I think I

15:10would like to also hear from the city

15:13clerk. He he also has a presentation.

15:15So, after he makes his presentation, uh

15:18I think we'll open it up for you all to

15:21comment on the speak and uh maybe let us

15:24know what would be your thought. So,

15:26give a few more minutes for

15:28city clerk to make his presentation and

15:30we'll open up and have a nice

15:31discussion. Madam, would you be able to

15:34stay a little longer? Thank you. Thank

15:36you very much. So, I would now refer

15:39request city clerk

15:41Nico and Denise to please make the

15:43presentation. Thank you.

15:45>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam

15:46Solicitor, thank you for that extensive

15:48PowerPoint. I don't want to repeat

15:50myself too much through my slides, but I

15:53do want to focus on the charter

15:55commission aspect of it because that's

15:56when the election administration part of

15:59this

16:00it will play into effect. And then we

16:02can discuss briefly about a special act

16:05method that the solicitor discussed

16:06earlier. So, just to give the committee

16:08some background and I stated this back

16:10when we met in May,

16:12the charter commission

16:14discussion has come up in the past and

16:16I've been with the city since 2013. I've

16:18heard it a several times. There's been

16:21several committee meetings in this

16:22municipal operations over the years.

16:25The Board of Election Commissioners also

16:27had a meeting on this.

16:29In 2024, we were approached by a

16:31resident group that was asking for

16:34actual petition papers to put the

16:36charter commission at the next municipal

16:38ballot which would have been 2025.

16:41And we initiated the process then. We

16:44offered the papers to the resident group

16:46that was asking for the initiative to be

16:49started.

16:50And

16:52you know, we did not receive any papers

16:54turned in in 2025. So, now going back to

16:57our meeting tonight, I just wanted to go

17:00through the steps

17:01of what it takes for a charter

17:03commission.

17:04So, I think the first step is the

17:06residents

17:08that are looking to you know, approach

17:09the charter commission discussion for

17:11our 2027 local elections would also need

17:14to start with the Board of Election

17:16Commissioners sending a letter to the

17:18city clerk so we can notify the

17:20commission to start a meeting

17:22to initiate

17:24the first step, which is the the

17:25petition papers. And there are certain

17:28language that has to go on that petition

17:29paper.

17:30And once we get that cleared with the

17:32law department, we will print out as

17:35many papers as necessary for those

17:37residents to collect the 15%

17:40of the registered voters. Right now in

17:41the city of Worcester, there are a

17:42little over 120,000 registered voters.

17:45So that would make the number about

17:4618,000 certifiable signatures. And what

17:49I mean by certifiable signatures is that

17:52signatures of registered voters that are

17:54residing in the city of Worcester and

17:57are registered with the with the with

17:59the election office.

18:01I usually recommend about 20% over just

18:04in case there are some signatures that

18:06are not within the city of Worcester

18:07because people collect at supermarkets

18:09and anywhere in the city.

18:10And there's also other you know,

18:12residents of outside um

18:14towns that come and do business in the

18:15city or shopping in the city. So that's

18:17why we recommend about 20% over that uh

18:2015% uh threshold based on the

18:23the requirement based on MGLs. So once

18:26you get the petition, and then you

18:27submit it to the Board of Election

18:29Commissioners, then our process starts.

18:31We have to go through the signatures.

18:33And if the if the number is reached at

18:3615%, then that ballot question will be

18:40on the municipal ballot coming 2027. At

18:44the same time on the same election, we

18:46will also nominate the Charter

18:49Commission.

18:50So those are the nine members of the

18:51Charter Commission that will also be on

18:54the same ballot in November 2027.

18:57They do require that they collect 200

18:59signatures. So if you're going to be a

19:00member of the Charter Commission,

19:03similar to how you would run for city

19:04council and school committee, you also

19:07have to collect signatures, which is

19:08about 200 signatures per

19:11candidate that will be running for that

19:12nine seat Charter Commission.

19:15And once that election takes place, if

19:17the voters do pass that first election

19:20question which shall the Worcester

19:22City of Worcester review the current

19:24city charter and if that's a yes, the

19:26majority

19:28you know, votes yes on that election.

19:30Then also we also elect those nine

19:33members of the Charter Commission. If

19:34the Worcester voters vote no,

19:36then that election basically stops there

19:40and we will not have a Charter Review

19:42Commission.

19:43If there's a yes vote, then the Charter

19:46Commission

19:47is created and then they have 45 days to

19:50start their kind of first initial

19:51hearing and after that they will have

19:54several hearings in the city. They'll

19:56have several meetings. They'll work with

19:58the city clerk and the solicitor to kind

19:59of outline their tasks in terms of what

20:02their roles are as a Charter Commission

20:05and then they'll do a final report

20:06within 18 months with the new text of

20:09our charter. The solicitor and I will

20:11work with them and then we'll submit the

20:13same text to the Attorney General's

20:14office for their review because they

20:16also have to have a review and has to be

20:19in agreement with the Attorney General's

20:21office. And then after that, it'll

20:23probably be put on the ballot come for

20:25the 2029 election.

20:27And again, the voters will be asked

20:29shall the City of Worcester adopt the

20:31following charter as drafted by the

20:33Charter Commission. And at that case, if

20:35the voters vote yes, then our charter

20:38will probably take place in 20

20:4331. As it again, that's what happened

20:45back in

20:46in 85. It was adopted in 85. Actually

20:48the process started in 83, adopted in

20:5085, took effect in 87. So, that is kind

20:54of a timeline of what it take for a

20:56Charter Commission and some of those

20:58deadlines.

21:00If you can go to the next slide,

21:03that's what the The discussed as special

21:06acts. We saw this with the school

21:07committee redistricting based on our uh

21:10consent decree with the with the

21:12with the plaintiffs.

21:14Uh when we change our school district

21:15lines, so the city council votes, it's a

21:18majority vote. Then they send it to the

21:21state legislature. Usually our local

21:23delegation will sponsor a bill.

21:25And then they'll go into committee for

21:26their reading and then both uh

21:29the legislature and the Senate uh must

21:31pass that, you know, special act. And

21:34then the governor signs it.

21:36As we discussed discussed earlier, um

21:39the special act method cannot change the

21:41composition,

21:42uh you know, the selection or the term

21:44of the mayor, city council,

21:46or change the change the city of

21:48Worcester from a strong mayor form of

21:50government from a city manager to a

21:51strong mayor govern

21:53um form of government. That needs a

21:55charter commission.

21:56And then my last slide, just to

21:58summarize uh some of the changes that

22:00we've seen in other cities.

22:02Uh Boston had a change of how they

22:04conduct their budget budget process back

22:06in 2021.

22:08Lowell had some changes in '21 and '24

22:10how they elect their uh

22:13uh district and at large uh city council

22:15members. And they did some changes to

22:18the vacancy rules. Cambridge had a

22:21kind of a modernized council manager uh

22:24charter just recently passed last year.

22:26There was no major changes in their

22:28process. It was just a lot of procedural

22:31language. Council solidified some of

22:34their roles as the as the as the

22:35solicitor for uh for, you know, stated

22:37earlier.

22:38Uh Newton had a

22:41several changes as you probably seen in

22:42the report that we submitted back in

22:45July. And um their change to reduce the

22:48number of city council members in 2017

22:52uh did fail uh at the voters. So, that

22:55commission recommendation after they

22:57went through the whole process was not

22:58final.

22:59And then Worcester's example, as I

23:01stated earlier, with our um

23:03school committee six district now too

23:05large with the mayor's chair was changed

23:08back in 2022.

23:10So, that's kind of a, you know,

23:12high-level summary of uh the two

23:13different options as the solicitor was

23:15discussing.

23:19>> Thank you, Mr.

23:21City Clerk. Uh

23:22I appreciate uh both of you making the

23:24presentation.

23:26Um before I go to my two colleagues here

23:29to make their remarks uh as city

23:31councilors, I would like to open up uh

23:34to hear from all the attendees present

23:37here. Please uh feel free to let us know

23:40your thinking, your thoughts. We are

23:42here to hear from you. Again, you heard

23:45uh I think um basically, if we need to

23:48make any changes, we need to have about

23:5218,000 plus signatures for the petition

23:55that has to be also majority of the

23:57voters have to vote in the next election

23:59if we can get it before 60 days. If not,

24:02it goes to the next election. So, with

24:05all those things in mind, if anyone is

24:09thinking to make any changes, the first

24:11thing of action will be to collect all

24:13the signatures and bring the petition to

24:15the city clerk's office. With that, uh I

24:18open it up for anyone to come. Please

24:21uh state your name and the residence and

24:24also what is your opinion about the

24:26charter. Thank you very much.

24:29>> Uh thank you, chair. Uh friend Nathan

24:31Worcester.

24:32I think the city council, the mayor, the

24:34city manager, the clerk, everyone up

24:36there has done a good job, even the

24:38school committee. But, I I just have a

24:40funny feeling that this is really an end

24:44around because there are people that are

24:46pissed off that the city manager will

24:48not send a forward

24:52uh

24:53yes to have a citizen review board.

24:56That's what I think it's really about. I

24:58could be wrong, but I'm going to go down

24:59to Foxwoods and make a bet on it.

25:12>> Hello gentlemen. Um my name's Gary

25:14Hunter.

25:15And uh Fred, I'm sorry. I'm totally uh

25:18opposed to what you just said.

25:20Uh this city charter

25:23has been asked to be reviewed for years.

25:26And now we're finally doing something,

25:28but I don't understand. I think part of

25:30the thing if you look at it,

25:33the policy of trying to change the

25:34charter

25:36it tells us that it needs to be changed.

25:38It's a relic. Um

25:40every

25:41every piece of paper it in the city was

25:44to

25:45has to be reviewed. It changes every

25:47year.

25:50Worcester's only 15 one of 15

25:53peop- a cities in the state that has the

25:56plan E form of government.

26:00Worcester is the second largest city in

26:02New England. And we got to realize that

26:05we are a city, second largest city, and

26:08we're still acting like a small town.

26:12The problem with the charter the way it

26:14is,

26:15there's no leadership. Who do you go to?

26:18Now you have a city manager who is hired

26:20by the

26:21by the city council.

26:23And he's the he's the executive

26:25of the city.

26:27Then you have the city council as the

26:29legislature part of the city.

26:32And you have issues.

26:34Who do you go see? Who is the leader of

26:37our city?

26:39Is it the city council? Is it the city

26:42manager? Is it the

26:44police union?

26:47What we need is a strong leader

26:52in this city. So when you have a

26:53problem, you can go to that person

26:56and get it solved.

26:58There's I There's 11 city councilors.

27:01All different people coming from

27:02different sections of the city.

27:05We need a unified person to go to. And I

27:08know this is

27:10um not New York City. But, if you look

27:12at New York City and they said it was

27:14going to fall apart.

27:16And you look what's being done.

27:18And you know, we talked about here about

27:21uh creating uh maybe city grocery stores

27:24cuz you have

27:25parts of the city that don't have any.

27:28Look what in the months that he has been

27:30in office, what's going on there because

27:33you have a strong leader and you know

27:35where you can go and you have a city

27:37council that's willing to cooperate with

27:40the mayor.

27:42We don't have that here. So, I think I'm

27:45I really feel bad that that this uh

27:48procedure is going to take so long

27:49because I think it's been necessary for

27:52years. And I hope

27:54there's a way the city council will have

27:56an open mind

27:58for one thing. And please, there's

28:00nothing to do against them

28:03change to look at the city charter. It's

28:06been 40 years.

28:10I'm old. I understand.

28:12You know, it's so I change with the

28:15times and I think the city council has

28:17to change with the times. And if there's

28:19any way you guys can fast-track this

28:22change and get it on the ballot, get it

28:25going, and let the people decide because

28:28again, like I've said a hundred times,

28:31you work for the people of the city. Let

28:34them decide. Thank you.

28:43>> Hi, my name is Sue Mailman. Um I wanted

28:46to say that I appreciate getting a robo

28:48call about this um, meeting and I would

28:51hope that we might on other important

28:53topics like civilian review that have

28:55come before many other committees get a

28:58robo call. Um, so it's interesting to me

29:01that we did it. In addition, I just

29:03wanted to say that I looked um, at the

29:05agenda for the backup materials that you

29:08guys just presented and didn't see them.

29:10Hopefully, they will get um, put up

29:13later on.

29:15Um,

29:18we could do things and that we should do

29:20both. We should have the charter review.

29:22We should move forward with the full

29:24process. I think it from the the

29:26schedule that you laid out, we might

29:28have at the same time we have a new

29:29Burncoat High School. So,

29:31it's out there and we could get

29:33something done. But, there are things

29:35that we could do in the short term. Um,

29:37and many, as you pointed out, many MLO

29:40community municipal operations

29:41committees have had this item before

29:43them and done nothing. I urge this

29:45council

29:47C- Councilor Rosen, you have you were

29:49very clear as you were um,

29:51campaigning that this was an important

29:53topic for you and that you thought we

29:55should get something to do. So, I hope

29:57this committee will have will move this

30:00forward to the full council to um, take

30:03care of it. The last thing the districts

30:06and the school side, we could do that by

30:08home rule petition. So, even if we have

30:10this process that's going to take as

30:12long as Burncoat High School, there's

30:13things we should do in the middle in the

30:15meantime. And one of the things that we

30:17could do was fix these districts so that

30:20we are um,

30:21make our voters clear who's who's with

30:24what district and they match the council

30:26and

30:27the

30:28um,

30:29and school committee and that we could

30:32also do things like cabinet inspector

30:34general um, in a new charter if we did

30:37that, which I would be in favor of.

30:39Thank you.

30:48>> All right, I'll go.

30:50Uh Randy Feldman, resident of Worcester.

30:52Um I have three points I want to make,

30:54but before I do so, I want to say I like

30:57Plan E form of government.

30:59Uh but it has to be amended. That's the

31:01way I look at it. Uh

31:03First off, City Council, I don't know

31:05what your frustrations are, but as Joe

31:07Q. Public, one of my frustrations is

31:10that it just don't see a whole lot of

31:11what we would call legislating from city

31:14councilors. Um

31:17Instead, I just see the city manager

31:19acting and bringing everything forward,

31:21and there's a few little things and

31:22requests that go back and forth, but I'd

31:24like to see a little bit more

31:25legislating from City Council. But I

31:27really specifically want to talk about

31:29from the committees serving on a

31:30committee or a commission point of view.

31:35You're almost powerless to do anything

31:37but just give an opinion.

31:39And you're selected by the city manager,

31:42and if the city manager is not consist

31:44if your opinion is not consistent with

31:46what the city manager wants,

31:49it's

31:50it's not worth serving. And if you do

31:52exactly what the city manager works

31:54wants, it's also not works worth

31:56serving. So what is the purpose of

31:59having uh

32:00citizens,

32:01residents, be in the committee structure

32:04if the committee just does what the city

32:07manager wants?

32:09So I think I I don't think we need a

32:10wholesale change of Plan E, but we have

32:13to amend

32:15the city

32:16commission system so that it's used as a

32:19voice of people to serve who are both

32:22for and against what the administration

32:24wants to do, not just people who are for

32:28what the administration wants to do.

32:30It's gotten to the point where you can't

32:32even have a statement made like the

32:34Human Rights Commission on the on the

32:37Police Oversight.

32:39We wrote a a letter and we wanted it to

32:41be public. And they were like, "Oh, no,

32:43no. It can't be public before the

32:45meeting. It can't be public until it's

32:47part of the minutes." So, everything is

32:51stifling

32:52public expression within the city of

32:55Worcester unless the city manager wants

32:58it.

32:59We've gotten also to the point where

33:02even a civilian review board or a police

33:04oversight board, it comes down to one

33:07person. It The The executive office of

33:10DEI, the Human Rights Commission, all of

33:12us are really non-factors. It's BOPS,

33:15goes to the city manager, and the city

33:17manager says, "This is the way it's

33:19going to be."

33:20That's referred to as monarchy.

33:22And that's the system that we have. And

33:25that's a system that doesn't have to

33:27have wholesale change, but significant

33:29change. And my question, and I'll end

33:31with this, is to the city clerk, uh

33:34through the chair,

33:35the 15%

33:37requirement is going to be hard. So, I'm

33:40more interested in what kind of

33:42technical

33:44changes could be made of the kind I'm

33:46raising could be done in the second

33:49format that you two uh eloquently

33:51explained, and I didn't catch the whole

33:53thing. So, I want to know besides the

33:5515% any of those things that I just

33:57mentioned, can any of those be done not

34:00with starting with 15% of the voters

34:03actually signing a petition to change

34:05the charter. Thank you.

34:15>> Yeah, Tom Marino, City of Worcester. Uh

34:17what I didn't see in the presentations

34:18was uh uh when a I think it's a motion

34:21for a

34:22an item for a special act fails, that it

34:23can also be put on the ballot by

34:24signatures. Uh and I I have I've

34:27modified my position on this. I think

34:29that that is probably the best path

34:30forward

34:31uh because it know, from my

34:34understanding and I'm sure I'll be

34:35corrected if I'm wrong,

34:37there is

34:39number of counselors, form of

34:40government, you know, major structural

34:42things you can't do this way. But

34:44there's a lot of things we could do. We

34:46could reform this committee structure

34:47which I'm not sure what the point of the

34:49committee structure that we have is.

34:51We could instead of

34:53endlessly waiting on reports and the

34:54request for reports being used as a

34:56weapon to stifle the flow of

34:57information,

34:58we could give this council an inherent

35:00right to information that is held by

35:04city government whether it be statistics

35:05data or documents. There's a lot of

35:07things that we could do to make the

35:09council more relevant. You know, and

35:13again fixing this committee structure, I

35:14mean what's going to happen here is

35:15we're going to have a recommendation

35:17on how to vote on Councilwoman's

35:21resolution and that's it. There'll be no

35:23data, there'll be no written report. I

35:24mean this council has one deliverable.

35:26It's one thing that gets written down in

35:27two years and that's the manager's

35:28review and that's it. So it would be

35:31good if we had a council that, you know,

35:33conducted some oversight in a

35:35in a committee structure that worked and

35:38actually produced something.

35:39So I think that there's a lot of things

35:41that we could do with the special act

35:43method, but it would require

35:45this council to take an action to

35:47convene such a such a study.

35:50And you know, you can

35:52you can look at the charter. It doesn't

35:54you don't have to only look at the

35:55charter in a in a charter commission

35:57format. And I think that that would be I

35:59think it's 30 years past the time to do

36:01that. So you know, looking at where we

36:04are and where we could be, you looking

36:06at models other cities have used, I

36:08think would be extraordinarily prudent

36:10and would be actually moving the ball

36:12forward on improving city government if

36:14city council took such an action. Thank

36:16you.

36:23>> Madam Solicitor, can you

36:26Uh,

36:27uh our colleague here, Randy, uh

36:30attorney Randy Feldman mentioned that if

36:32there is a way

36:33to see that without getting the 15%

36:36signature, is there anything that we

36:38could can be what can do either Nico or

36:41you can explain?

36:43>> So, uh through the chair, the 15%

36:46signature requirement is just for a

36:47charter review commission. There are

36:50other, you know, uh either through

36:51special act or special legislation or

36:54without any change to the charter at

36:55all, like a commission or a board, uh

36:58those are established by ordinance. So,

37:01we could, you know, propose a ordinance

37:03amendment. That wouldn't need to go

37:05That's not a an amendment to the

37:07charter. Um it's an ordinance

37:10matter. Now, again, ordinances that are

37:12reorgs need to come from the manager,

37:14but, you know, changing uh a board and

37:16commission's roles and responsibilities

37:19or uh even numbers is something that can

37:22be done by ordinance.

37:24>> I see.

37:25Randy, does that

37:27give you some answer

37:28to what you were looking for?

37:31>> If I could, I I just wanted to ask then,

37:34does it not have to come from the city

37:36manager? Can that ordinance come from

37:38the city council? Cuz if what I'm

37:40arguing is against what the city manager

37:42wants, how are we ever going to get that

37:44if it doesn't come from another power

37:46source besides the city manager?

37:49>> So, through the chair, that's where

37:50you're coming to your form of

37:51government. So, um the ordinance has to

37:54be proposed by the uh administrative

37:56officer, chief executive officer.

37:58>> Alone?

37:59>> Uh no, in collaboration and upon request

38:02of the city council, and we should all

38:04be working together, yes.

38:05>> Thanks. I I meant as opposed to from a

38:07city councilor on a 6-5 vote

38:11irrespective of what the city manager

38:13prefers.

38:14>> I mean, I yeah, they

38:16the council could put an order on

38:18requesting, you know, the manager look

38:19into something, draft an ordinance.

38:21They've, yes.

38:22>> And it can pass no matter the city

38:24manager's opinion.

38:26>> Uh

38:27to request the city manager to prepare

38:29an ordinance, yes. But the city council

38:31does not prepare the ordinances, they

38:32set the legislative policy. So, it's

38:35the manager that implements that.

38:37>> So, the details of that will come from

38:39the manager.

38:40>> Yes.

38:40>> And then the city council is left in the

38:41unenviable position of either going with

38:44what the city council the city manager

38:46said or if it disagrees, eating it or

38:50firing the city manager. Those are the

38:52only choices.

38:54>> I think through the chair if I can step

38:56in. So, my understanding is um city

38:59council has oversight over

39:00organizational ordinances. I think they

39:02can ask the city manager or the the law

39:04department bring forward a draft

39:06ordinance, but that doesn't mean it's

39:07the final ordinance.

39:09Um some cities like Cambridge have

39:11ordinance committees.

39:13So, the city council has their ordinance

39:15committee and everything that is drafted

39:17because at the end of the day, the city

39:19council is the legislative body of the

39:21city. And what are ordinances? Those are

39:24laws. And if you have a legislative body

39:26like the state reps and state senators,

39:29they're the ones who set the policies

39:30and laws for the commonwealth. So, this

39:32body is the one that sets the laws and

39:34the policies to a certain extent for the

39:36city of Worcester.

39:37So, there is a role the city council

39:39plays. How active it is, that's for the

39:42council kind of to to to to kind of

39:44determine that.

39:45>> So, this committee this commission could

39:47play that role.

39:48>> I think there's rules that this

39:50committee can do when it's within the

39:52council

39:54authority that they can create certain

39:55rules and certain committees. At one

39:57point, we used to have 20 committees.

40:00And they had certain

40:01responsibilities. Now, you have 10

40:03committees and the most of operations

40:05and the rules is one committee, but it's

40:07how the city council

40:09um sees the form of government that they

40:11currently operate. Um and that's how

40:14they can choose to operate it.

40:15>> Could there be an ad hoc committee

40:17created to do the same kind of thing?

40:19>> Um, through you chair, you know, to the

40:20resident, there is actually a

40:23an ordinance committee within the rules.

40:25It just hasn't been used except for

40:26emergency ordinances. Because in most

40:28cases, if there is an ordinance change

40:32regarding, let's say, the city clerk's

40:33office,

40:35um, it goes to the municipal operations

40:37committee and that has oversight.

40:38There's going to be an over ordinance

40:40change for the lot department, the same

40:42thing. The manager proposes

40:43organizational

40:45uh, change and it comes to here for a

40:46public hearing and a a discussion.

40:49So, there is, um, the role that certain

40:51committees can play when it comes to

40:52these ordinances.

40:53>> Thank you.

40:55>> Um,

40:57I would like to

40:59make a chairperson's report to be given

41:02from the manager that what is the role

41:05of the city council as in making the

41:07changes, if at all available, can uh,

41:10clerk, can you please keep that as a

41:12chairperson's report if that's okay with

41:15>> my colleagues to do that. Getting the

41:17report.

41:17>> if I could if I could just clarify, are

41:18you saying that request um, a report on

41:21the roles of the councils relative to

41:22ordinance changes? Is that correct?

41:23>> Yes. Yes.

41:25I think that will probably get some

41:28some answers to your questions, Sandy.

41:31Anyone in the ordinance audience?

41:36>> Steve Hart, District 1.

41:38>> [clears throat]

41:39>> Really appreciate this.

41:40>> Name, please.

41:42Did you say the name?

41:43>> Steve Hart, District 1.

41:45>> Yeah.

41:46>> Uh, appreciate the hearing.

41:49Uh,

41:50my thoughts on this, obviously, is going

41:53to be a very arduous process.

41:55And our the speaker before

41:59got into the details, the nitty-gritty

42:01of of how this can work. I think

42:04as a citizen,

42:06as a taxpayer,

42:08I think it's important to understand

42:10where plan he as in has not worked.

42:14Uh

42:16my counselor

42:17counselor Economou has an item on the

42:19agenda, I believe.

42:21Still asking, what what is this $30

42:24million lawsuit all about?

42:26I don't know.

42:28That's under a plan E form of

42:30government.

42:31We saw what happened to the DOJ report.

42:36The divisiveness that came from that

42:37without any clear understanding. That's

42:40plan E.

42:43Plan E has resulted in

42:47the Patrolmen's Union

42:49having disproportionate influence

42:52on the council

42:55to the point where this citizen

42:57sees them as pretty much running

43:00Worcester

43:02in terms of their control politically.

43:04And finally,

43:06uh

43:07coming off of the last election,

43:10there is a shadow government in this

43:12city. The Chamber of Commerce

43:16has a a lock on a on the votes on the

43:19City Council.

43:20They are unelected.

43:23Um

43:24and

43:26I'm making observations that are mine.

43:28I'm not making accusations.

43:31But it's pretty apparent to me

43:33that

43:35this form of government

43:37has allowed

43:38um

43:40what we see happening now to occur.

43:44And lately with the Civilian Review

43:45Board

43:47and the

43:49outrageous

43:51letter from the city manager

43:53regarding the DOJ report.

43:56Thank you.

44:05>> Good day. Uh Keith Maners, uh 1 Germain

44:07Street, District 1,

44:09Worcester. Um,

44:12so, uh, I'm very much in favor of, uh,

44:14charter review.

44:15Um, I did a little bit of, uh, research

44:17into why we have Plan E government in

44:19the first place.

44:21Um, my understanding of the examples

44:23that were given, it kind of sounds a lot

44:25like the environment that we're in

44:26today. Um, we were trying to break up

44:29machine politics and patronage. I think

44:32that it's pretty clear, um, as Steve

44:35alluded to, we're kind of in a situation

44:37where Plan E has, unfortunately,

44:39allowed, uh, a real concentration of

44:42power among a few, uh, influential,

44:45unelected group, uh, groups, namely the

44:48Tim Murray Chamber of Commerce, the

44:50Worcester Democratic City Committee, the

44:52police union, the heads of the police

44:54unions, uh, carrying a lot of weight in

44:57how our politics in this city operate.

44:59Patronage, that's this is something

45:01that, uh, when I ran for City Council

45:02last year, I talked to people all over

45:04District 1 about this feeling that

45:06patronage exists, that some people in

45:09this city carry more weight than the

45:11rest of us in the city. Those who live

45:14in areas that seem to have high

45:15concentrations of voters, we get these,

45:18uh, you know, speed bumps that are

45:20basically, uh, taken by order, on

45:22demand. If a resident, uh, you know,

45:24calls their city councilor, it's like

45:26they get special treatment to get a

45:28speed bump put in. If certain people

45:30complain about potholes getting filled,

45:32it seems like they move to the front of

45:33the line, while other parts of the city

45:35are left in disrepair. Um, another

45:38reason for Plan E was, um, you know,

45:40reducing the political interference in

45:42day-to-day administration. I think it's,

45:43again, pretty clear that the city

45:45manager, uh, is working pretty closely

45:48with the police unions, uh, as

45:50especially as far as some of their

45:51communications are concerned.

45:53Um, the other, other part of this was

45:55putting trained administrators in charge

45:57of a growing industrial city. We don't

45:59have a skilled, tech, I mean, I I know

46:03Eric Batista's, you know, a nice guy

46:04doing his best. I don't I'm not

46:06confident that we have a skilled,

46:09well-trained, well-experienced

46:11technocrat leading the city. If we had

46:14somebody that the Plan E type of

46:16government was meant to put in charge,

46:18somebody who's a skilled administrator

46:20with lots of experience at dealing with

46:23issues of great complexity that require

46:25a great understanding of public policy,

46:28I think we would have a stronger uh city

46:30manager than we do. Um I don't know that

46:33there's anything inherently wrong with

46:35Plan E government, but it scares me the

46:38way that power has been able to be so

46:41concentrated among such a small group of

46:44people in a city of 200,000 people. We

46:46have a very very small minority of

46:49people who are basically dictating how

46:52the rest of the city operates, and it's

46:53to the detriment of the rest of us.

46:56Um I wanted to suggest a few things that

46:59I would like to see

47:01if a charter

47:05Yeah, of course. I'll move through it

47:06quickly.

47:07I think a few of the things that we need

47:09to see in Worcester are participatory

47:12budgeting, so giving residents some say

47:15in how our dollars are spent. The city

47:17manager has a tremendous amount of

47:19power. He basically sets the budget. The

47:22city council never makes any changes to

47:24it. You basically just sit there and

47:25rubber stamp it through. So, I'd love to

47:27see residents be given a voice in in how

47:29our tax dollars are spent. Um as Randy

47:32mentioned earlier, the the commissions

47:34are tremendous opportunity for residents

47:37to provide their voice in how our city

47:39is run, but we continually see Eric

47:41Batista turn a deaf ear to them because

47:44they're politically inconvenient for

47:45him, and they

47:47the the residents want to do things

47:49differently than our unelected city

47:51manager does. So, I would say increase

47:53the power of the commissions. That's

47:55another great way to move forward.

47:57I did have a question. I think it was

47:59mentioned earlier that there's some

48:00scenarios where 8% of the the voting

48:05public can put something on the ballot.

48:07So, could you address some of those

48:08those scenarios where where that might

48:09be allowed?

48:12>> Good.

48:13>> Um through chair to the

48:16to the chair to the committee, I think

48:17that was the 10% but that's under plan E

48:20and it was our previous charter.

48:22Our charter now is a different charter

48:23and you need 15%.

48:25Um there's the two methods and then

48:28anything when it comes to changing the

48:30to strong mayor or the terms of the city

48:32council

48:33um the length of it from 2 years to 4

48:36years

48:37and the number of city council serving

48:39or school committee members other than

48:41outside that consent decree we had with

48:43the plaintiffs requires the 15%.

48:54>> Yes, could

48:55>> Good evening members of the

48:55subcommittee. My name is Dante

48:57Comparetto at 4 Manders Street in

48:59Worcester.

49:01I'm here tonight to strongly urge this

49:03committee and the full city council

49:06to take decisive action toward a

49:07comprehensive review and modernization

49:10of the Worcester City Charter.

49:12Worcester is the second largest city in

49:14New England.

49:16Over the last four decades, our

49:17population has grown, our neighborhoods

49:20have diversified, and the challenges

49:22facing our community from housing

49:24affordability to civic infrastructure

49:26have become increasingly complex.

49:29Yet, the foundational blueprint of our

49:32municipal government have remained

49:34largely unchanged. We cannot solve 21st

49:37century challenges with a government

49:39structure designed for a different era.

49:41>> [snorts]

49:42>> A modernized charter can address several

49:44critical areas.

49:45First, direct accountability and

49:48balance.

49:49We need clear lines of authority,

49:51stronger checks and balances between the

49:53council and the executive branch, and

49:55robust public oversight.

49:58Second, fair and equitable

50:00representation.

50:01Modernizing our district, I mean ours

50:04our our city council structure will

50:06ensure every neighborhood, especially

50:08our historically underserved

50:10communities, have a powerful voice in

50:12local decision-making.

50:15Third, institutionalized civic

50:16participation.

50:18Our charter should codify real tools for

50:20resident engagement from language access

50:23and transparency to participatory

50:25budgeting.

50:27Finally, mandatory periodic review. A

50:30modern charter should require a formal

50:31review every 10 years so our government

50:34continuously adapts to the people it

50:36serves.

50:38The most legitimate democratic path

50:41forward is a voter-elected charter

50:43commission. Let the residents [snorts]

50:45of the Worcester lead this conversation,

50:47deliberate across our neighborhoods, and

50:50decide the future of our local democracy

50:52at the ballot box.

50:53I urge this committee to champion this

50:55process and bring the question of the

50:57charter commission to the voters. Thank

51:00you for your time and your service.

51:08>> Anyone else would like to speak?

51:15Please mention your name and the

51:17address, please.

51:18>> Francesco Bovona.

51:20>> 940 Pleasant, District 5.

51:22Um I There There've been a lot of great

51:25points raised tonight, and uh I wanted

51:27to thank you all for putting this

51:28meeting together. Um

51:31it There really does seem to be a bit of

51:33a a a split between the the changes that

51:37could happen without the commission and

51:41the changes that

51:43need the commission to be

51:45uh you need to get the pa- uh the

51:47petition together and go through the

51:49whole 6-year process, it seems like, to

51:51get to

51:52final charter changes.

51:54Um,

51:55I I'd really like to see out of out of

51:58this in maybe another meeting down the

52:01road, a breakdown of

52:04the issues that were brought up tonight,

52:05which can take the shorter process,

52:08which cannot, and why.

52:10Um,

52:12uh,

52:13just in terms of

52:16sort of getting a frame of reference for

52:18our expectations of what the city

52:20council can

52:21uh, potentially implement in a more

52:24expedite manner.

52:25Um,

52:27in terms of

52:29the uh,

52:31the charter commission process, uh,

52:33uh, and uh, revisiting considering plan

52:37A and alternatives, um,

52:39>> [snorts]

52:40>> that's

52:41seems like it's ultimately up to the

52:43people, and if that's something that

52:45people of Worcester really want, we got

52:47to

52:48get the petition uh,

52:50uh, set up, get people going

52:53door-to-door, and go to uh,

52:56supermarkets, gather signatures.

52:59It'll be a long drawn out thing, but I'd

53:01I'd really like to see what we can um,

53:04what we can do more quickly. Uh, and I

53:07did want to

53:09uh, reiterate from the presentation, uh,

53:11the uh,

53:12uh,

53:13the budget authority uh, issue, I think

53:16is really the biggest issue uh, of the

53:19things that can be done faster. Um,

53:23comes up every year. We'd love to see

53:25some more capability out of council to

53:28make changes in addition to just

53:31shooting

53:32aspects of the budget down each time.

53:34Um, yep.

53:36>> I have a um,

53:37I think you really

53:40really met some good points. I with the

53:44with the approval of my

53:46uh city council Guy Rosin and counselor

53:49Bo Bergman, I'd like to put another

53:52order of the chairperson to see what are

53:54those changes if uh city clerk and city

53:58manager could bring us to the council,

54:01what are those changes that could be

54:02done without creating the charter

54:05commission and what are those that needs

54:08to be

54:09uh creating the charter commission to

54:10approve it. So, if that's something

54:12>> Um through chair to the committee, if I

54:15can make a suggestion is uh maybe it's

54:18proper for me to go back with my office

54:19to do the testimony from tonight and

54:22then bring back some of the residents'

54:24testimony in a formal written report to

54:26you for the

54:27uh if you plan to have another uh

54:29you know, committee meeting to discuss

54:31this,

54:32maybe that's the proper way to do it to

54:34bring you some of the feedback from the

54:35residents tonight.

54:37>> Is that okay with you?

54:38It's okay. All right. Then I would like

54:40to have that report from you. So, that

54:43might give us some idea. Thank you very

54:44much. Good points. Next.

54:48>> Uh Josh Crooke, District 2 resident,

54:50City of Wooster. Um

54:52just want to vocalize my support for

54:55charter review um and charter change

54:58here in the city and appreciate this

54:59being an agenda item this evening. Um

55:02echo and support a lot of what has been

55:04said, Dante as well as Randy and and

55:08other folks such as Keith talking about

55:10a need for more um resident oversight

55:13and participation in our municipal

55:16process. Um I'm a big fan of

55:18participatory budgeting and more

55:21transparent ways for community members

55:23to get involved. I think what we're

55:25hearing a lot tonight is that this is

55:27really about shared and accountable

55:29powers not being equally distributed

55:31across the bodies of our government. Um

55:35and from what I understand, a lot of

55:38this is listen to the manager or fire

55:41the manager and there's not a lot of

55:43space in between to really um advocate

55:46for and push forward um things that the

55:49elected body of our city would demand

55:52our executive take action on based on um

55:56the 11 votes in council versus the

55:58singular vote of the city manager and

56:00that's agnostic to whoever is in that

56:02seat. I think fundamentally we need an

56:04assessment and a review of um of our

56:06charter to make it more um fair,

56:09effective, and accountable to the city.

56:12Um,

56:12I also feel that um

56:15I just want to uplift also a request to

56:18make the the presentations available to

56:20to the community um and look forward to

56:22more dialogue and conversation and would

56:25also ask our elected officials that if

56:27charter review is something that you are

56:29passionate about and move forward,

56:30considering we need almost as much of a

56:33percentage of the vote as voters turn

56:35out in our local elections, I hope to

56:37see each of you carrying petition papers

56:40um around the city to advocate for um

56:42getting an elected commission um in the

56:44city. Thank you.

56:48>> I would uh request the city clerk to

56:50make sure that this is posted the in the

56:53website so everybody can see the

56:55process.

56:56>> Uh Mr. Chair, to the committee, so I do

56:58have copies. I'll try to hand out some

56:59copies to the residents. We'll also put

57:01this part of the minutes.

57:02>> Okay. So, there are some copies. Thank

57:04you. What's your name and your address,

57:06please?

57:07>> Craig Waters, District 5.

57:09South Atlantic Street.

57:11I've I've heard a great deal this

57:13evening about people

57:15people's thoughts as to what they'd like

57:16to see different in the charter.

57:19But that's not really the question

57:20before us, is it? The question before us

57:22is whether or not we should conduct a

57:24charter review.

57:25Having said that, the discontent that I

57:28hear expressed in this room may or may

57:30not be indicative of the discontent that

57:33exists in the

57:35200,000 people that live in our city.

57:37Having said that, if it is, we probably

57:40should pursue a comprehensive review.

57:46I think that 15% is a pretty high

57:49Actually, I think it's a pretty low bar.

57:5115% isn't a big number in most contexts.

57:54Having said that, I think in this

57:55instance, it will be a very hard a high

57:57bar

57:58to cross.

58:01But if you do, the commission is really

58:03what's the most important. Um

58:07The commission needs to hear what the

58:09people of Worcester want. Not the

58:11various special interests, not the

58:13people that show up in this meeting time

58:15and again. They need to make the effort

58:17to hear what the broad populace wants.

58:20And if they can successfully do that,

58:22then I think that we will have a useful

58:24process. If they cannot do that, then

58:27we're probably wasting our time. Thank

58:29you.

58:33>> Anyone else, please?

58:41Your name,

58:42address, please keep the time within 2

58:44minutes.

58:45>> Hello, my name is Jack Murray, District

58:471.

58:48Thank you for holding this meeting, the

58:50members of the MLO committee. As many of

58:52tonight said, the residents in Worcester

58:54just want to say, when folks show up on

58:56Tuesdays, whether it's a public

58:58testimony or to cast their vote, they

58:59want it to result in legislative and

59:02tangible action, rather than, you know,

59:04just an accountability, rather than just

59:06a rubber stamp.

59:08In this case, we have an unelected

59:10executive. We must begin a conversation

59:12around centering the people as we look

59:14to restructure our government. I believe

59:16a strong mayor is the right way to make

59:17people feel included in the democratic

59:19process. Restructuring the committees

59:22and the commissions seems like good idea

59:24on paper, Uh, but given the current

59:26current structures and the fact that

59:27that was already done like what, 2 years

59:29ago?

59:30Um,

59:31we we must act decisively to restore

59:34trust with the public. And as people

59:36have mentioned, 15% is the typical

59:38turnout of a local election. And given

59:41that the public has 85% of it has long

59:44lost hope in a system that has become a

59:46patronage system that responds to

59:49special interests over the average

59:50person.

59:52I urge counselors to empower themselves

59:54as they seek to best represent the

59:56residents. Too often counselors try to

59:58minimize the scope of their role and

1:00:00what they can do. We need to view this

1:00:02process as the way to broaden the access

1:00:04to local government and to look at

1:00:06things like making these positions

1:00:07full-time.

1:00:09Plan E is an outdated government system

1:00:11designed for smaller-scale towns. Had

1:00:15Augustus and many of the people said

1:00:17tonight, Worcester's the second largest

1:00:19city in New England and we need to start

1:00:21acting like it. I hope we can do that as

1:00:23well as create a government that works

1:00:26for the people rather for special

1:00:27interests. I urge the council to vote in

1:00:29favor of a home rule petition to show

1:00:32the people that they're ready to step up

1:00:33to the responsibilities of such

1:00:35representation. Thank you.

1:00:39>> [applause]

1:00:41>> Next, please.

1:00:42Your name, residence, and please keep it

1:00:45within 2 minutes.

1:00:46>> My name is Feanna Jaitansingh. I'm

1:00:48resident of 37 County Street, District 3

1:00:50in Worcester.

1:00:52I support everything that he just said.

1:00:54And also,

1:00:56there's many, many reasons why we need

1:00:57to have a charter review besides that

1:00:59our form of government isn't really

1:01:01serving the majority of the community

1:01:03right now.

1:01:04As you can see from the last City

1:01:05Council meeting, how many hundreds of

1:01:07people came out to speak in favor of the

1:01:09Civilian Review Board and then yet the

1:01:10city manager says we don't need one. So,

1:01:13he's directly opposing what the majority

1:01:16of the community says we need. So,

1:01:18therefore, for us to have a different

1:01:19form of government, we would have to

1:01:21have a charter review, which is why we

1:01:22need to have um

1:01:24to move forward with having a charter

1:01:26um question to be able to to change the

1:01:29charter. Also, there are many many many

1:01:31things in our charter that are

1:01:34inequitable. They're not fair for the

1:01:35majority of the the community. For

1:01:37example, I live on a private road. I

1:01:40think the city should be responsible for

1:01:41all the roads in the city, not just the

1:01:43ones that they deem public, and not have

1:01:45to maintain the private roads. How many

1:01:47citizens in the city can actually afford

1:01:48to pave their own road? Not not most

1:01:51people. Only the rich people can afford

1:01:53to pay to pave their own road. And if

1:01:55you want to have your road converted

1:01:56from a private road to a public road,

1:01:58you still have to pay. So, either way,

1:01:59you have to have money to be able to

1:02:00have a paved road in the city. That's

1:02:02not fair. Where everybody's paying the

1:02:04same taxes, everybody should be able to

1:02:06have a paved road. On top of that, the

1:02:08the rule about the sidewalks. When I was

1:02:10fighting for a sidewalk on Sundulan

1:02:11Road, it was brought to my attention by

1:02:12George Russell that, "Do you know in the

1:02:14charter, you're supposed to pay, I

1:02:16forget how many hundreds of dollars per

1:02:17linear foot of frontage of your house,

1:02:20to be able to have a sidewalk?" I said,

1:02:21"Well, how can we change that?" He said,

1:02:23"Oh, that can't be changed. It's in the

1:02:24It's in the charter. The charter says

1:02:25that you have to pay for a sidewalk it

1:02:27because it that's how it's supposed to

1:02:29be for each person." Again, those rules

1:02:30are unfair cuz it basically says, "Only

1:02:32rich people can have sidewalks." Cuz you

1:02:34have to be able to not only put in the

1:02:35petition, get it approved, and all that,

1:02:37but you have to be able to pay the money

1:02:38to have a sidewalk. That's unfair. Many

1:02:41many many of the rules in our charter

1:02:42are unfair. They're written for only the

1:02:44wealthy to be able to have the nice

1:02:45things, and everybody else has to suffer

1:02:47with potholes and bro broken tires and

1:02:50having to replace your your your brakes

1:02:53and your tires every 6 months because of

1:02:55all these horrible roads that we have in

1:02:56our city. That's just another example,

1:02:58but I can go on and on and on of all the

1:03:00things that are wrong in our charter

1:03:02that need to be updated. It hasn't been

1:03:03updated in I think it's been over 40

1:03:05years. It's time for us to have change.

1:03:07Thank you.

1:03:08>> Thank you very much.

1:03:11>> [applause]

1:03:12>> Next, please, if anyone else would like

1:03:14to make a comment.

1:03:19If not, then I would request uh

1:03:22our clerk, Claire Robbins, to let me

1:03:25know if there is anyone online willing

1:03:28to speak on this issue.

1:03:31>> Through the chair, at this time, it

1:03:32looks like there are two people with

1:03:33their hand raised online. Um I will go

1:03:35to those folks at this time. Dominic, um

1:03:37I'm unmuting you now. So, Dominic, if

1:03:39you'd like to speak.

1:03:45Dominic, you are unmuted at this time.

1:03:48>> Okay. Okay. Uh Dominic Castelar, um I

1:03:51live on Fairmont Street. Um I believe we

1:03:53do need a charter

1:03:55uh review commission. Um I had actually

1:03:58I only moved here a couple years ago,

1:03:59but I used to be a city councilman in

1:04:01Albany.

1:04:02And um I find it hard to believe that

1:04:04the council is so weak here for a city

1:04:07of so many people. I asked that just see

1:04:09if they could have a ordinance put in

1:04:12just for window guards after three

1:04:13children fell out a window. This was a

1:04:15summer. I was told, "No, no, the council

1:04:17can't do that. They can't

1:04:19can't even amend a a building code

1:04:22after [clears throat] have window

1:04:23guards." So, something needs to be

1:04:25changed where something as simple and as

1:04:28a safety requirement like that can be

1:04:31done at a councilman's request and

1:04:34through a a local law. So, I I I I

1:04:37really think that the charter, as

1:04:38everyone has been speaking ahead of me,

1:04:40has said, um the commission is needed.

1:04:43It's It's a It's old. It's outdated. Uh

1:04:46we did one in Albany when I was there in

1:04:47the late 1990s, and that was about the

1:04:50same thing. It was about 40 or 50 years

1:04:51since the last one was done. Um so, they

1:04:54they do need to be updated. And uh I

1:04:56hope the council uh will see fit to do

1:04:59that. And um we'll have a new charter,

1:05:01and hopefully before 2032. Thank you.

1:05:04>> Thank you, Dominic.

1:05:07>> Sarah, I see you have your hand raised.

1:05:08Sarah, I'm unmuting you now.

1:05:13>> Hello. Thank you.

1:05:15My name is Sarah Moore,

1:05:17resident of Worcester, District 2. Just

1:05:20can't say much more than what a lot of

1:05:22my fellow res- fellow residents have

1:05:24just said previously that we need to

1:05:27open up the charter for a charter review

1:05:29commission.

1:05:31One thing that, you know, really stood

1:05:33out to me is just how much,

1:05:35you know, in our current plan, you know,

1:05:36how much power the executive has, you

1:05:39know, agnostic of who it may be, you

1:05:41know, if it, you know, remains current,

1:05:43you know, whoever it may be,

1:05:45that basically we need somebody where we

1:05:47would have some input as the populace,

1:05:49you know, with the both with the

1:05:51executive branch and with the

1:05:53legislative branch.

1:05:55So, I'm definitely looking forward to

1:05:58you vo-

1:05:59the, you know, having the opportunity to

1:06:01move forward with

1:06:03taking a look at charter review, and

1:06:05thank you very much for your time.

1:06:10>> Anyone else? Please.

1:06:11>> at this time there are no other

1:06:12residents online with their hand raised.

1:06:14>> Okay.

1:06:15Anyone else in the audience? Anyone

1:06:17wants to say? Please come on.

1:06:20Please come on the podium.

1:06:22Mention your name, uh, residence,

1:06:25and within 2 minutes.

1:06:28>> Hi, I'm Martha. I'll keep it very brief.

1:06:30Um, I firmly would like to see the city

1:06:33manager's salary go to the level of, um,

1:06:38Mandami and Misha Lu, and that money

1:06:41transferred over to,

1:06:43um, the city council instead, and the

1:06:46school committee, so that people who are

1:06:48not rich can afford to represent us,

1:06:51because I think that

1:06:53that there

1:06:55our electeds should be paid enough to

1:06:58represent us. The city manager is

1:07:00overpaid

1:07:02vastly,

1:07:03and that money needs to be re- re-

1:07:05districted, redirected to our

1:07:07representation instead. And I think if

1:07:10you would do that, you'll see

1:07:12more reflective government. So, not sure

1:07:14if that applies to this scenario, but I

1:07:17think that the pay rate is deeply

1:07:19problematic.

1:07:20And that equation needs to change. Thank

1:07:23you.

1:07:23>> Thank Thank you very much. Appreciate

1:07:25it.

1:07:25>> [applause]

1:07:28>> If uh there is no one else to speak or

1:07:32make comments, uh

1:07:34I just would like to mention that uh

1:07:37the purpose of this standing committee

1:07:39was to open up this uh item, uh which

1:07:44has been long due. It's been almost 40

1:07:46years that the charter has not been

1:07:48looked at, reviewed. So, we wanted to

1:07:50open it up, hear from the residents. Of

1:07:53course, uh you know, everything that we

1:07:55do is for the city of Worcester, for the

1:07:57residents of this city. So, I hear you.

1:08:00I got a lot of notes, and everything has

1:08:03been with us.

1:08:04I would like to, at this point, also

1:08:07give

1:08:08uh my colleagues

1:08:10uh

1:08:11Councilor

1:08:12uh Gary Rosen and Councilor Mo Bergman

1:08:16to say their opinion, and then uh maybe

1:08:20I'll uh have some other questions that

1:08:23we can address. In the meantime, I'd

1:08:25like to recognize that we have our city

1:08:27councilor from the District 3, uh John

1:08:30Fizello with us, and uh

1:08:33uh Councilor Fizello, if you have

1:08:35anything to say, of course, you'll get

1:08:36that chance as well.

1:08:39>> [clears throat]

1:08:39>> So, Councilor Rosen, would you like to

1:08:42>> give your comments

1:08:44>> about after hearing all the comments we

1:08:46had from the residents.

1:08:49>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

1:08:53All it takes, I think,

1:08:55to do something we haven't done for the

1:08:57last 40 years in

1:08:59reviewing the charter

1:09:01is 100 people

1:09:03getting 200 signatures each.

1:09:05That's 20,000.

1:09:08100 people, that's a lot of people.

1:09:10Can you get 200 each? Well, even Gary

1:09:12Rosen, pretty much by himself, got over

1:09:15300 last year during the campaign. So, I

1:09:18think I could probably get 200 and all

1:09:19of us would get 200. So, that's what it

1:09:21takes.

1:09:22I I'm I'm a little concerned cuz I know

1:09:24people here are supporting charter

1:09:26review. I've always called it charter

1:09:28review, others call it charter change.

1:09:31To me, there's a difference.

1:09:32I want to reach the public. I want them

1:09:34to support this. So, I always say

1:09:35charter review. People over the years,

1:09:38cuz I've supported charter review for

1:09:39many years, people always say, "Well,

1:09:41what do you want to change?" And I don't

1:09:43like to speak about that, me personally.

1:09:45I'm glad you folks did did tonight. But

1:09:47me personally, I don't like to speak to

1:09:49that because I don't want them to think

1:09:51I have some axe to grind. I think it was

1:09:53the first speaker who said a few things

1:09:54that really surprised me cuz I did file

1:09:57this original order back in February.

1:09:59I've talked about it during the

1:10:00campaign.

1:10:02And I filed this to see if we could get

1:10:04the the city council involved in the

1:10:06process. We can't do the whole thing,

1:10:08but we certainly could let the people

1:10:10know that we're in favor of charter

1:10:12review. So, keep in mind, 100 people, we

1:10:15must must have 35 here tonight. We're

1:10:17already a third of the way there. At 200

1:10:19signatures, 200 signatures takes you a

1:10:21couple of weeks. Go to a Little League

1:10:23game, you get, you know, a lot of them

1:10:25right then and there.

1:10:26So, it can be done.

1:10:28You know,

1:10:29we've talked tonight and we've asked

1:10:30some have some orders here and the city

1:10:33clerk brought it up about kind of it's

1:10:35kind of a

1:10:37a process where it's a little longer,

1:10:39it's a little more difficult, it's a lot

1:10:41more work, and that's the the getting

1:10:43the signatures. And there's another

1:10:44process that if you just want to take a

1:10:46look at the charter and you don't want

1:10:48any big changes and there's smaller ones

1:10:50you can do that. That's not what I was

1:10:52ever thinking. I always knew, yeah,

1:10:54you're probably you're to have to get

1:10:55the signatures. It's going to take two,

1:10:57three, four, it sounds like four or five

1:10:59years now, but hey, if we started five

1:11:01years ago,

1:11:02this would be a congratulatory meeting,

1:11:05I think, but we didn't. So, you know, we

1:11:07start now. Hopefully, we're all here in

1:11:09five years to see the results of this.

1:11:11But if you Again, these aren't for me. I

1:11:14don't still I'm still not suggesting any

1:11:16changes that I would personally favor.

1:11:18But what have I heard from people? Cuz I

1:11:20hear from people all the time. Yeah, we

1:11:22Some people mention it.

1:11:24The city The city manager versus strong

1:11:26mayor type of government. You can't do

1:11:28that without the without the 100 people

1:11:30getting their 200 signatures. Okay, we

1:11:32heard even tonight, and I've heard this

1:11:34a few times. Well, the school committee

1:11:36has six districts, and the council only

1:11:38has five. Isn't that confusing? Yeah, it

1:11:40is confusing, right? Very confusing. So,

1:11:43if we want six city council districts,

1:11:45I'm not sure where my colleagues stand

1:11:47on this, but if we want six districts,

1:11:49then we have to have

1:11:51100 people getting 200 signatures. We

1:11:53have to do it the the the the the way

1:11:55you have to you work at it.

1:11:57Uh if you wanted to change the terms of

1:11:59the city council, I know this we're in

1:12:01our eighth month this council, and

1:12:03several councils are already holding

1:12:05uh

1:12:06fundraisers.

1:12:07A campaign has already begun. We just

1:12:10started. It's been eight months. Uh so,

1:12:12if you want to change the maybe the

1:12:14length of a term, three years. Maybe we

1:12:17stagger the terms. We're not all running

1:12:20at the same time. These are things that

1:12:21have to that may may have to be done,

1:12:24should be considered at least

1:12:26in our review, but they take the I'm I

1:12:28keep stressing it.

1:12:30I keep stressing 200 signatures for 100

1:12:33people each.

1:12:34Last year, okay, last year there was

1:12:37talk about charter review because

1:12:40uh the several some city councils Some

1:12:44city councils felt that we should take a

1:12:46look at the charter because if a

1:12:47councilor didn't come to meetings and

1:12:50didn't do their job, according to them,

1:12:53they thought, "Let's change the charter

1:12:55so there would be some way to remove

1:12:56councils in the future." These are just

1:12:58things that have been suggested. You've

1:12:59suggested more tonight. They There are

1:13:02many many more. So, that's where I

1:13:04stand. I'm certainly a big supporter of

1:13:06reviewing the charter.

1:13:08Not necessarily for any or all of those

1:13:10reasons. It's been 40 years. I'm

1:13:13probably one of the few people who voted

1:13:15for this charter

1:13:1640 years ago. I was a teacher at Doherty

1:13:19High. I ran the internship program at

1:13:21the at the time. I had a student of mine

1:13:24at Doherty High that year, a senior, who

1:13:26said, "I'm interested in Worcester

1:13:27politics and government." And I wasn't I

1:13:29wasn't involved yet, even though I go

1:13:31way back uh to school committee days,

1:13:34but I said, "Oh, you politics and

1:13:36government? Why don't we get you down at

1:13:37the city council office?" And somehow we

1:13:40arranged this young man to come to the

1:13:43city council office, and it was the

1:13:45early '80s,

1:13:47and what were they doing? They were

1:13:48doing the charter. They would take They

1:13:50had a charter commission. I voted for

1:13:52the people on those charter commissions,

1:13:53okay? Uh and

1:13:56I sent him down there. He worked with

1:13:57the city council. Someone must have been

1:13:59running the office or whoever he worked

1:14:01with at the time.

1:14:03And he was involved in the charter

1:14:06changes himself. He spoke. Wasn't on the

1:14:10council. He was a student. But he got to

1:14:12speak cuz he was kind of working with

1:14:13them, went to all the meetings, helped

1:14:15out, and so on. His name was Joe.

1:14:18And what happened to Joe years later?

1:14:20Joe became what?

1:14:22The mayor of Worcester, Joe O'Brien.

1:14:25So, I mean, this is It's an important

1:14:27thing, and it can be done. And the

1:14:29signatures we can get. And I've just

1:14:31committed myself. We can get the

1:14:33signatures. It can be done. I want to

1:14:36say just a few more maybe introductory

1:14:38things. Thank you to my two colleagues

1:14:40uh setting up this meeting.

1:14:42Uh

1:14:43I appreciate that. Thank you to the

1:14:45clerk's office for publicizing the

1:14:46meeting. It's the first time in all my

1:14:48years of city government I ever remember

1:14:50a robo call for a a committee meeting. I

1:14:53thought that was great. My wife heard

1:14:54it. I have it three ways on my phone, a

1:14:56text, and everything else. My landline,

1:14:58my cell phone. I was just shocked. I

1:15:00said, "This is great." Because we had

1:15:02this meeting already.

1:15:04You didn't know that. This is our second

1:15:05one. We had it way back in May.

1:15:08And you know what?

1:15:11I'd be talking to myself. There was no

1:15:12one out there.

1:15:14There was no one there. And someone

1:15:16said, "Well, there's no interest in

1:15:17charter review in the city. Look it, no

1:15:19one's here." I said, "No one knew about

1:15:21the meeting." They knew there was a

1:15:22meeting of the MLO committee. They

1:15:24didn't know we were talking charter

1:15:25change. So, I remember saying, "We've

1:15:27got to have one in a few months." That's

1:15:29today. And we have to publicize it. And

1:15:33it was well publicized.

1:15:35I even wish we had more here, but we

1:15:36have enough. I think we've shown people

1:15:38there's a strong interest. There's

1:15:41people at home who didn't speak, but

1:15:42they're watching on TV. Can we get these

1:15:45100 people for 200 signatures? We can

1:15:48have these signatures in a month if we

1:15:49get the 100 people first.

1:15:52So, it can certainly

1:15:54be done.

1:15:57I don't have much more to say, Mr.

1:15:58Manage uh Mr. uh Mr. Chairman,

1:16:02except that I hope that we come out of

1:16:04this committee

1:16:06with resolve that this is something we

1:16:08want to do together with our eight other

1:16:11colleagues

1:16:13and together with the people of

1:16:14Worcester.

1:16:15Too often, and I've been involved in a

1:16:17school committee, city council

1:16:20several times over the years, too often

1:16:22what we do is the council doing

1:16:25something, not even together as 11, but

1:16:27doing something

1:16:29and we listen to the people,

1:16:31but we don't hear the people.

1:16:33I think people have stressed that

1:16:35tonight. I think that we should be

1:16:36reviewing the charter of the city of

1:16:38Worcester after 40 years and do it every

1:16:4110 years and do it together. Not the

1:16:44three of us, not the 11 of us, all of

1:16:47us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

1:16:49>> Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

1:16:51[applause]

1:16:55I'd like to request uh

1:16:57Councilor

1:16:58Morris Bergman to say his comments.

1:17:03>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

1:17:04I I don't know if I'm going to get the

1:17:06applause Councilor Rosen got at the end,

1:17:08but that's okay.

1:17:09I'm not looking for applause.

1:17:11I'm looking for um

1:17:12dialogue and I think a lot of what I

1:17:15heard I agree with, but I think there

1:17:17are some things that are worth

1:17:20um

1:17:21contradicting or at least

1:17:23stating my opinion. For those that think

1:17:25that uh our elected body of councilors

1:17:29is under some sort of influence by

1:17:31certain groups, you can hold on to that

1:17:33belief, but I would suggest

1:17:35you check the donors of some of your

1:17:37favorite candidates and you'll see that

1:17:40the groups that support them are far

1:17:43outnumber the group of individuals that

1:17:44support most of us. Most of our

1:17:46donations come from individual people,

1:17:49not from PACs or or lobby groups. So, I

1:17:52disagree with that comment and you can

1:17:54just check Office of Campaign Public

1:17:56Finance. But, if you think that 11

1:17:59people can be influenced by small groups

1:18:02of people and I'm sure some can,

1:18:04why wouldn't one person, a strong mayor,

1:18:06be more easily influenced than 11?

1:18:09Sometimes you got to be careful what you

1:18:10wish for. If you think 11 people can be

1:18:13influenced by small groups of people,

1:18:16why wouldn't you think that one strong

1:18:18mayor could be more easily influenced by

1:18:21small groups of people? I challenge you

1:18:23on that.

1:18:24I do think that uh when it's said what's

1:18:27happening in Worcester, I I'd tell you

1:18:29what I see what's happening in

1:18:30Worcester, a lot of challenges. I don't

1:18:31think the plan of government's going to

1:18:33change those challenges. We're going to

1:18:34have people without homes. We suffer

1:18:37like every other major city and

1:18:39struggling to find fix for that. We're

1:18:41going to have people that don't have

1:18:43jobs. We're going to have people that

1:18:45have addiction problems and mental

1:18:46health problems. We're going to have

1:18:47those problems and challenges whether

1:18:49it's our fight form of government we

1:18:51have today or whether we go with a

1:18:53different form of government. It doesn't

1:18:54mean we don't try to fix the problems.

1:18:56But it does mean that it's not a panacea

1:18:59to change the form of government just

1:19:01because

1:19:02problems exist. I also say that what I

1:19:05also see is the city that's grown more

1:19:06than any other city in Massachusetts.

1:19:09That's the plus side. People want to

1:19:11live here. Worcester become more

1:19:13populated than any growth wise than any

1:19:15other city in the last decade in

1:19:17Massachusetts. Unfortunately, it causes

1:19:20housing prices to go up and makes it

1:19:22difficult for people to buy homes. It

1:19:24makes it difficult for people to pay

1:19:25rent. But please don't characterize

1:19:28Worcester, to me at least, as a place

1:19:31that has so many problems that we have

1:19:33to change the form of government because

1:19:35people don't want to be here. Because

1:19:37the facts totally

1:19:39totally contradict that as far as the

1:19:42number of people that do want to be

1:19:43here.

1:19:44Uh this was before me uh in my committee

1:19:472 years ago when I was head of MLM. And

1:19:50at that time the same complicated

1:19:52scenarios were laid out by the city

1:19:54solicitor and others. Which way do we

1:19:56go? It's almost an analysis paralysis.

1:19:59People have to get signatures, but it's

1:20:00overwhelming to get the signatures. So

1:20:03then we have to try to do it piecemeal.

1:20:04And doing it piecemeal is very difficult

1:20:07to do. So it's back again and with same

1:20:09sort of challenges. Which way do you go?

1:20:11I've heard people before us on the

1:20:13microphone and I agree with them.

1:20:15Getting that number of signatures is

1:20:17going to be difficult. I appreciate

1:20:19Councillor Rosen's optimism and maybe

1:20:21you can get those signatures. But I

1:20:23think at the end of the day what I'd

1:20:25like to see is I'd like to see a

1:20:27non-binding referendum to see where the

1:20:29residents of the city of Worcester are.

1:20:31And I like to see us piecemeal, where we

1:20:34can, fixing or improving, I should say,

1:20:37parts of the charter that don't require

1:20:39a full charter review, because that's

1:20:40going to take way too long. The

1:20:43non-binding referendum could be on the

1:20:44ballot for the next election cycle. And

1:20:48if the voters strongly support a charter

1:20:51review, then that's the direction we're

1:20:53going to go in. Let me just mention one

1:20:56or two other things before I finish.

1:20:58I was

1:21:00first elected on the tail end of a

1:21:02council pay increase, and the number of

1:21:05people that were upset at city council

1:21:06is getting paid an increase was

1:21:09overwhelming. It was everywhere I went.

1:21:13So, I think the idea,

1:21:15whether you like the city manager or

1:21:17not, of putting his salary to the

1:21:19council is something I don't want.

1:21:21I don't want his money. I don't want any

1:21:23increase in salary, because the more you

1:21:25make this job, let me just tell you

1:21:28this, one thing I've learned,

1:21:30agree or disagree, the more you make

1:21:32this a permanent full-time job, the more

1:21:35people are going to vote to keep their

1:21:37job. They're going to vote in ways that

1:21:39protect them to keep a salary that they

1:21:42can pay their kids' private school

1:21:44education, they can pay the mortgage.

1:21:46The more you do that, the more you will

1:21:49get worse candidates, in my opinion, not

1:21:52better candidates. So, I think that's a

1:21:54mistake.

1:21:55I question whether or not if people were

1:21:57happy with the city manager, we'd have

1:21:59as much of a turnout here today as we

1:22:01have. I think some folks, right or

1:22:04wrong,

1:22:05are pointing out issues with the city

1:22:07manager as a reason to do charter

1:22:09change, but I do think 40 years is a

1:22:11long time. I think things do change in

1:22:1340 years. And again, I certainly am

1:22:15supportive of a non-binding referendum,

1:22:18and I'm supportive of hearing what the

1:22:19city solicitor says we can do without

1:22:22full charter review. And I'm looking

1:22:25forward to to taking a

1:22:27upon ourselves trying to make those

1:22:29improvements so we don't have to wait 6

1:22:31years. And if the signatures are gotten,

1:22:33I will certainly go with the will of the

1:22:34people. That's That's democracy in

1:22:36action. The last thing let me just say

1:22:38is a lot of the frustration I hear about

1:22:41people not being represented, but the

1:22:43West Side getting more

1:22:45accommodation than the East Side and so

1:22:48and so. I've heard I've heard that. I

1:22:49don't believe it.

1:22:51Uh I see the way the speed bumps go on a

1:22:53regular basis. I see where the potholes

1:22:55are everywhere. Do take a trip down the

1:22:57West Side if you want on Park Ave and

1:22:59Salisbury Street. They're no better, no

1:23:01worse than anywhere else in the city.

1:23:03They're just bad everywhere. But I also

1:23:06think that one of the challenges we

1:23:08always will have as a city is we don't

1:23:10have enough people that come out and

1:23:12vote. And I think if more people came

1:23:14out and vote, then we would have a lot

1:23:16less people that didn't feel that they

1:23:18were disenfranchised. And I don't think

1:23:20the form of government we're going to

1:23:22get, whether it stays the same or

1:23:24whether it changes, is going to be a

1:23:26cure a

1:23:28a fast fix

1:23:29for the fact that people don't come out

1:23:32and vote. And you know, I heard somebody

1:23:34say they've lost faith in local

1:23:35government. They don't vote in Boston.

1:23:37They don't vote in any other

1:23:38municipalities, the large or small,

1:23:41for local elections. For some reason

1:23:43people have checked out of the local

1:23:45elections. I don't believe it's cuz

1:23:47they've lost faith in the local elected

1:23:50officials. I would venture to say that

1:23:52the local elected officials are more

1:23:54reachable than their state delegation

1:23:56and they're more approachable as far as

1:24:00having conversations with at every point

1:24:02in the city of Worcester. You can run

1:24:04into them anywhere you go.

1:24:06Um

1:24:07I don't have an easy answer for that.

1:24:08I'm not a political

1:24:10um

1:24:11expert as far as why people don't vote.

1:24:13But I'm not sure the change changing

1:24:15government's going to change that

1:24:16either. I hope more people do vote cuz I

1:24:19think it'll be a lot less people that

1:24:20would feel disenfranchised. And that's

1:24:22for now all I have to say. Thank you.

1:24:26>> Thank you.

1:24:27Councilor Bergman, appreciate your

1:24:29comments.

1:24:30>> [clears throat]

1:24:31>> Uh I would just like to mention that you

1:24:33know, it was a great evening for all

1:24:35three of us to listen to all of you. The

1:24:38purpose of this meeting was to address

1:24:41and respond to the

1:24:44um you know, requirement or the or the

1:24:46request that came from many of you to

1:24:49have a review of the charter. I think 40

1:24:52years is a long time to not to review

1:24:54the charter. It's good that we are at

1:24:56least putting that in front of everyone

1:24:58to do that. I personally think that

1:25:02the to set up to review the charter and

1:25:05setting up the commission charter

1:25:07commission,

1:25:08it certainly looks like even though I

1:25:10appreciate the easy way Councilor Rosen

1:25:14mentioned that we can have 100 people

1:25:16say give 200 signatures. But you know,

1:25:19having 20,000 signatures is not going to

1:25:23be that easy in my opinion. So I think

1:25:25we have to think that how can we make it

1:25:28easier? I mean certainly charter review

1:25:30is important, but is there anything that

1:25:33we can do to not having 15% requirement

1:25:37or is that possible? I don't know if it

1:25:39is a legislation that comes from the

1:25:40Commonwealth that we have to follow. I'd

1:25:43like to see that. I'd like to talk to

1:25:45the you know, city clerk to look into it

1:25:47and see that is there any way that we

1:25:49can make this charter review a little

1:25:52bit more easier to process. I like the

1:25:55idea of looking at the

1:25:57what can be done, the small thing that

1:26:00probably can be done without forming a

1:26:01charter commission. And that might be

1:26:04some solution to it if we can find out

1:26:06that these are the items that could be

1:26:08done without really having to go through

1:26:10that cumbersome process of creating a

1:26:12charter commission. And maybe it could

1:26:14be done at the level of the you know,

1:26:16the the committee and the council and

1:26:19all of you here. So, I'm all in favor of

1:26:23listening and doing things that the

1:26:25residents of Worcester want. I'm always

1:26:28you know, love this city. I've been here

1:26:29for 44 years. Uh

1:26:31you know, I love the city of Worcester

1:26:33and see that we can do best. This is a

1:26:35charter and I have been I've been

1:26:38reading this charter as best as I can to

1:26:40understand everything. The best thing

1:26:42that came out the other day when I read

1:26:44and it said that if you're 70 or over,

1:26:47you can't be the city manager. My wife

1:26:49was so happy. She said, "I'm so glad

1:26:52that you don't think of anything else."

1:26:54So, but you know, it is an important

1:26:56It's a very well-written charter in my

1:26:58opinion and there's a lot of things Do

1:27:00we follow the way it is?

1:27:02I I have to really think that we need to

1:27:04probably follow more closely than the

1:27:07way it is written. But, the charter is

1:27:09good. I think that you having the

1:27:10opportunity to review is is something

1:27:12that we wanted to do. I'm glad that so

1:27:15many people came and expressed their

1:27:17opinion and their views on it. Uh I'd

1:27:19like to see how we can make it a little

1:27:21bit easier to process. I'd like to see

1:27:24that are there some of the things that

1:27:26we can do that would be done, you know,

1:27:29without creating a cumbersome process of

1:27:32going through the commission.

1:27:33I also think that many of you said

1:27:35several things that I don't know. I

1:27:37agree with Councilwoman that whether

1:27:40making the change in the government with

1:27:42that change. You know, it's up to us

1:27:45people to see that the changes are done

1:27:48the way we want the city to perform. It

1:27:52is not the mayor or the manager, but I

1:27:56think all of us councilors have to be

1:27:57stronger to get things done. I think

1:28:00that's what my opinion is, whether it's

1:28:03a mayor mayor strong or manager city

1:28:06council government. I don't know whether

1:28:08those things the potholes or the craters

1:28:10of the street or the traffic

1:28:12controlling, all those things. I don't

1:28:14think the charter change will make those

1:28:17things change unless we are strongly

1:28:20saying we want the traffic be

1:28:22controlled, we want the roads be paved,

1:28:24we want our city to be a safer place.

1:28:26That's the job of us as a counselor and

1:28:30we would like to see that that happens.

1:28:32But it was very nice to hear from all of

1:28:34you because you brought up a lot of

1:28:36things and I'd like to see that many of

1:28:38things can be probably processed and

1:28:40done without going through a you know

1:28:43lengthy process of charter commission.

1:28:46So that's where I am. I think I want to

1:28:48thank you all for for coming. I do want

1:28:51to I do want to go to the our

1:28:54agenda items.

1:28:56I want to I want to hold the number one

1:28:58in the miscellaneous 3A. That was the

1:29:02all the request from all the counselors.

1:29:05Um the

1:29:07report that was given or the

1:29:09presentation that was done by solicitor

1:29:11and also the city clerk. I'm going to

1:29:14hold that as well. And then

1:29:18if you look at the 4B which says the

1:29:21um transmitting and inter and

1:29:24information communication relative to

1:29:27advertisement for the standing committee

1:29:30on municipal and legislative operations

1:29:32meeting on Monday, August 17, 2026

1:29:36related to discussion of the city

1:29:38chapter. I want to thank really the city

1:29:41clerk's office for doing a fantastic job

1:29:43in letting everybody know through

1:29:45various sources, social media, through

1:29:48our

1:29:49alert rooster. Through robo calls. I

1:29:52mean it couldn't be any better and I

1:29:53think we certainly would like to see

1:29:56more people coming but I thank them for

1:29:58that and I like to file that if

1:30:01everybody agrees with that. And the last

1:30:04item that we have here is communication

1:30:06of the city manager. This is a

1:30:08communication that came

1:30:10that says here that the transmitting

1:30:13information communication relative to a

1:30:15process to establish a charter review

1:30:20review commission. This came from our

1:30:23past solicitor Michael trainer to

1:30:27manager at the time when he was he has

1:30:30asked he had asked for the process and

1:30:32this is the more or less the same

1:30:34process that he had submitted and that's

1:30:36what is attached here. So, I'd like that

1:30:38be filed as well. So,

1:30:41um

1:30:42Clerk Blair, if you could put that to

1:30:45file item number five if that's

1:30:48agreeable with

1:30:49>> What what did you suggest with the

1:30:51original motion the miss lay 3A?

1:30:53What are you suggesting? Hold that?

1:30:55>> 3 4A you mean? Or 3A and 4A we're

1:30:58holding.

1:30:59>> Okay.

1:30:59>> And then others are we're filing.

1:31:02>> Okay.

1:31:02>> Okay. And now

1:31:04with that you wanted to say something

1:31:07No. Anyone You want to say something

1:31:09again?

1:31:09>> All I All I want to say is are you going

1:31:11to take a vote among yourselves what

1:31:13you're going to recommend to the city

1:31:15council

1:31:17for this charter commission?

1:31:19>> I think I think

1:31:20>> like to see some strong leadership and

1:31:23state an opinion here, please.

1:31:25>> I think that as I said in the beginning

1:31:27the purpose of this meeting was to kind

1:31:29of educate everyone to know what is

1:31:33involved in doing any change to bring in

1:31:37the charter. And I think we have done

1:31:39that. So, our report to the council

1:31:41would be yes, we have given the Now, if

1:31:44someone wants to really come up with the

1:31:4715,000 signature and make a motion or

1:31:49bring the petition, that's up to the

1:31:51residents if they want to do that, but

1:31:53my goal would be to see if there is any

1:31:55way we can reduce or make it easier to

1:31:59run this process. I don't think we can

1:32:01we we have any

1:32:02>> Mr. Chairman, can we take a vote then on

1:32:043A?

1:32:05Okay, let's take a vote on 3A.

1:32:08May I make the motion we vote on 3A?

1:32:10That was the main order. The other ones

1:32:12were a little older and informational

1:32:15and the process. 3A was basically asking

1:32:18for the city council to go on record at

1:32:20least in support of charter review and

1:32:23any groups out there, people out there

1:32:25who maybe want to, you know, take the

1:32:27initiative, start with the signatures

1:32:30and so on. So, I think it's good to go.

1:32:32This committee should come in front of

1:32:33the full city council and say, "We agree

1:32:35that the council should go on record, if

1:32:37we take that vote tonight, that we do

1:32:39support charter review."

1:32:43>> Um

1:32:44yes, I'd like to

1:32:47I mean

1:32:48I'll take a vote, sure, but where where

1:32:50does the notion of a non-binding

1:32:52referendum play in that?

1:32:54We heard from our clerk and from our

1:32:56city solicitor that's that that is a

1:32:58method of getting this done. I don't see

1:33:01that here as an option. That's something

1:33:03I clearly said I would support as a That

1:33:06could happen as early as 2027.

1:33:11>> Mr. Chairman.

1:33:12>> I think I think what we can say on on 3A

1:33:15that

1:33:17with respect with reference to the

1:33:19request from all the city councilors,

1:33:21this committee is has has reviewed and

1:33:25discussed everything with the residents

1:33:27and and we're in favor of listening back

1:33:30from them any other charter review

1:33:33motion that they bring in.

1:33:34>> Mr. Chairman.

1:33:35>> We we have heard them at least to let

1:33:37the other city councilors know.

1:33:39>> See, this is this is where I get a

1:33:41little I know Councillor Rose, I don't

1:33:42interrupt. Go ahead.

1:33:44You have the through the chair. You You

1:33:46were asking before that.

1:33:47>> Yeah.

1:33:48>> Mr. Mr. Chairman, Councillor Bergman.

1:33:51I'm going to make a new motion. Okay. 3A

1:33:54states to have a meeting. I understand

1:33:56it that's what we've done. This is the

1:33:57second meeting, as I said. I'm just

1:33:58going to make a simple motion now that

1:34:01this committee

1:34:03uh

1:34:04votes to support the efforts to review

1:34:07the current modified plan E city

1:34:09charter.

1:34:11This committee

1:34:12supports, recommends to the city

1:34:14council, supports efforts to review

1:34:17the current modified plan E city

1:34:19charter. This The folks here and the

1:34:21folks at home and throughout Worcester

1:34:23who would like to review this charter

1:34:25don't even need us. You don't need us at

1:34:28all. Through the chair to the city

1:34:30clerk, is that correct? Can they get the

1:34:32signatures, the 100 people, 200 each get

1:34:35two the

1:34:3620,000 signatures and do this without

1:34:38our blessing? I'd rather have a

1:34:40blessing, but can they do that?

1:34:41>> Um through the chair to the uh

1:34:43committee, so basically as I stated back

1:34:45in May, uh last time they started um

1:34:48this process was May of 2024 for the

1:34:51November 2025 ballot. So, you can start

1:34:53as soon as tomorrow. Notify the clerk's

1:34:55office.

1:34:56They will have the board of election

1:34:58commissioners meeting.

1:34:59No, the council is now part of the

1:35:01charter commission review process.

1:35:03>> Okay, thank you.

1:35:03>> As I mentioned that our job was to let

1:35:07the audience or let the residents know

1:35:09what's their involvement in the process.

1:35:11>> We've done that. We've done that.

1:35:13>> We've done that. I don't see there is

1:35:14anything to vote for us, but we have

1:35:17done that. And now, if anyone thinks

1:35:19that, well, I can get that like you

1:35:21using your formula, 100 people, 200

1:35:23signatures, 20,000 signatures, bring it

1:35:26to the city in a clerk's office.

1:35:28Hey, the petition is there. And it is

1:35:30just rule. So, I don't think we need to

1:35:34ask them to do anything.

1:35:35>> I didn't ask them. I told them they they

1:35:37can do it. So, they don't need us. I

1:35:39didn't ask them. I'm going to I'm going

1:35:40to join them. I'm going to be there with

1:35:42my 200 signatures.

1:35:43>> Yeah, sure.

1:35:44>> Through the chair to the city clerk, do

1:35:45you know, Mr. Clerk, if back in the

1:35:471980s, when they did this process, they

1:35:50got 15% signatures then?

1:35:52>> Um through the chair to the council I I

1:35:54do have the papers down down in the

1:35:56vault somewhere that they filled out

1:35:58years ago but

1:35:59>> I assume they did.

1:36:01>> They did because there are samples

1:36:03digitized samples of the actual

1:36:04questions that I used.

1:36:06>> Less people. That's why they only needed

1:36:0850 people. We're going to have 100 at

1:36:10200 signatures each. But I mean if they

1:36:12did it back in the 1980s, we can do it

1:36:15today. I just don't want this committee

1:36:17or the full city council to you know

1:36:19pour a cold water on this process. I'd

1:36:22like to see it get done. My motion is

1:36:24that this committee recommends to the

1:36:26full city council that we support the

1:36:28efforts to review the current modified

1:36:30plan e-city charter. You can vote

1:36:32against that if you want but that's my

1:36:33motion.

1:36:35>> Just just

1:36:37It's not that late. We can have some

1:36:39more discussion about it.

1:36:43My concern always is putting the cart

1:36:45before the horse. Yes, we had nice crowd

1:36:47tonight. I'm happy to see the people

1:36:49that came out.

1:36:50But I wouldn't characterize as Council

1:36:52Rosen said as a overflowing crowd. Yes,

1:36:55there probably are people at home. There

1:36:57probably are people I don't know where

1:36:59people stand on this. I don't. I'm not

1:37:01swayed just because x number of people

1:37:03on any given topic on any given topic.

1:37:06>> people came down who were against

1:37:08charter review?

1:37:09How many people came down against it?

1:37:11None.

1:37:11>> But but that's the way council generally

1:37:13works through the chair. People are much

1:37:15more passionate about issues they are in

1:37:16favor of than they are about issues they

1:37:18are not in favor of. That's just the way

1:37:20council and a very you may very well be

1:37:22right. Overwhelming amount of people in

1:37:24the city may very well be supportive of

1:37:26this. But you're asking me to vote as if

1:37:28I know that. You say you know that.

1:37:30>> So so what's the plan? We had the

1:37:33meeting. We heard the public. Mr.

1:37:34Chairman, what's the plan to do next?

1:37:37There's no plan. We may never have

1:37:39another meeting. It may be 40 more

1:37:42years.

1:37:42>> No, that's not that's not true, Mr.

1:37:44Rosen. I I

1:37:46city council has wanted us to open up

1:37:49the discussion on charter review.

1:37:51We have done that. We have given

1:37:53everyone

1:37:55by the solicitor as well as the city

1:37:56clerk the process that it requires as

1:37:59per the current charter as per the

1:38:01current regulation what needs to be done

1:38:03if we move forward.

1:38:05Anyone those who are is here

1:38:07individually can take that charge, take

1:38:10that role and come to the city clerk's

1:38:12office to move on

1:38:14with the charter review and the process

1:38:16will roll.

1:38:17This committee can only go back to the

1:38:20city council in my opinion say, yes we

1:38:23have done the reporting to the attending

1:38:27audiences about what is the process.

1:38:30That's what I would say that that's our

1:38:32role would be to go back and give a

1:38:33report, but I don't think we're voting

1:38:36on whether we favor their opinion or

1:38:39anybody's opinion having a plan E or not

1:38:42having a plan E. That's not the motion

1:38:44there. Motion is that

1:38:46are we giving them the

1:38:48the information? And yes, we have given

1:38:51them the information about it. If I

1:38:54>> Can't Mr. Chairman, can't we at least

1:38:55give our blessing to those people who

1:38:57are going to do all this work? Just say,

1:38:59yeah, we think it's good. Go out and get

1:39:02the signatures.

1:39:03We'll support that process.

1:39:05>> an automatic process. I don't think we

1:39:07even if you don't

1:39:08>> Why

1:39:08>> Anyone of anyone of them can go.

1:39:11>> Why after Mr. Chairman, why after 40

1:39:13years 40 years would anyone in the

1:39:17Worcester City Council be afraid of

1:39:19taking look a look at this document? I

1:39:22mean it hasn't been 10 years, it hasn't

1:39:24been 15.

1:39:25>> How is that

1:39:25>> 40. What what's the fear of taking a

1:39:28look at the document? We may say, this

1:39:30is the best document ever in history.

1:39:33We're not going to change anything.

1:39:35Well, maybe there'll be suggestions. The

1:39:36key is not us, it's not them, it's the

1:39:39charter commission. That's what we're

1:39:40looking at. We're going to elect charter

1:39:42commission in future. That's the purpose

1:39:44of getting the signatures. They will

1:39:46come up with what they think should be

1:39:49revised, changed, if anything. And then

1:39:51that will go in front of the voters. The

1:39:53voters will get the chance.

1:39:55>> Yeah, but we don't have anything to say,

1:39:57support or not support. It can be done

1:39:59anyway. That's what I'm saying that we

1:40:01don't have

1:40:02>> Exactly, but we can sort of sometime we

1:40:04can support the people of West up. We

1:40:06can say to them, we think it's a pretty

1:40:08good idea. You got our blessing. We

1:40:10can't do it for you, but you got our

1:40:12blessing. Because the public might say,

1:40:13the city council supports it. The city

1:40:16council supports it, maybe they'll

1:40:18support it, too.

1:40:21>> Okay, you have a motion?

1:40:22>> I have a motion on the floor.

1:40:24>> So, what is the motion? Can you

1:40:25>> I said you have the motion. I said it a

1:40:27few times.

1:40:28>> Through the chair, Counselor Rosen, if

1:40:30you could repeat the the motion.

1:40:32>> Please.

1:40:33>> Yes.

1:40:35>> No, somebody has to

1:40:36repeat the motion.

1:40:37>> Through the chair, Counselor, I asked if

1:40:39you could repeat the motion.

1:40:41>> Yeah, you have the motion.

1:40:42>> I already repeated it.

1:40:43>> Yeah.

1:40:44>> I got to put my glasses on.

1:40:48That the MLO committee

1:40:51recommends to the full city council

1:40:55that the council goes in in support of

1:40:57average review of the current modified

1:40:59plan issue charter.

1:41:01Maybe that could be cleaned up as far as

1:41:04English.

1:41:06>> Do you want to ask the city council?

1:41:08>> Let's basically give the people our

1:41:10blessing. So, the whole city knows that

1:41:12that we're not afraid to do something.

1:41:15>> But

1:41:18Yeah, I mean

1:41:19yeah, I don't want to characterize this.

1:41:22I I've taken a lot of votes where the

1:41:24majority of people are not happy with me

1:41:27in the room. So, I'm not afraid to take

1:41:29a vote that way. Okay, I don't vote by

1:41:32deciding who's in the room and who's

1:41:34not. But I will say that.

1:41:35>> You know, that's pretty low. You think

1:41:37you

1:41:37>> It's not

1:41:37>> pretty low. You don't have to say that.

1:41:39>> Okay, but I took the same position in

1:41:41May, the same position in May when there

1:41:43was no one in the audience and you know

1:41:46that. Because if you go back, it was you

1:41:48and I going back and forth on the same

1:41:50issue. I don't need people in the

1:41:52audience to show a little courage and to

1:41:54get something done, Mr. Chairman.

1:41:56>> Why do you keep using the word fear? You

1:41:58don't need to Why are you using the word

1:41:59fear?

1:42:02Why don't know.

1:42:02>> Because I I don't understand I don't

1:42:05understand why we can't get things done.

1:42:08You even said it, I remember a couple of

1:42:10weeks ago, maybe it was during budget,

1:42:12someone called you when you were first

1:42:13elected and said, "Just do something." I

1:42:16remember you said that. They said to

1:42:18you, "Just do something." And you said,

1:42:19"I've always remembered that. I'm here

1:42:21to do something." Here's something that

1:42:23has to be done, Mr. Chairman.

1:42:26>> But you're It is going to be getting

1:42:28done even if you vote for it or not. We

1:42:31have given them that permission to do

1:42:33it.

1:42:33>> They don't need our permission. We need

1:42:34to give them the

1:42:35>> But we have given them the process.

1:42:38>> through the chair to my colleague in

1:42:39Frank Contros, isn't there a way to word

1:42:42it so that it it's not as if we're

1:42:44substituting what we want for what the

1:42:47voters want in a charter review?

1:42:49It's like one or two words that you

1:42:50could, I think, modify that we could all

1:42:53support. But but the way it's worded,

1:42:55I'm uncomfortable with it cuz it's

1:42:56saying that you support a charter, we

1:42:58support a charter review.

1:43:00>> It's 40 years. We do.

1:43:02>> No, no, I don't know we support it cuz

1:43:0340 years old. I support it if the voters

1:43:06support it. That's that's how I feel

1:43:08about it. And I

1:43:11Yeah, you are, but you

1:43:12But you With all With all due respect

1:43:15through the chair,

1:43:17the voters include about 100,000 people

1:43:19in the city of Worcester.

1:43:20>> you know the 100,000 people are not for

1:43:23this?

1:43:23>> Well, I don't. That's the whole point.

1:43:25>> should listen to some people that are

1:43:27>> Oh, so I should listen to people in the

1:43:28room only is what you're saying. We've

1:43:30had this conversation through the chair

1:43:32before, Mr. Hunter, and I've told you I

1:43:33don't do that.

1:43:35>> You don't listen to people.

1:43:36>> No, I listen to everybody, not just the

1:43:38people in the room.

1:43:39>> to a few people you meet in the store.

1:43:41You've told me that 100

1:43:42>> Yeah, I including everybody. What I've

1:43:44said through the chair is I don't only

1:43:46listen to the people in the room, I

1:43:48listen to everybody that wants to talk

1:43:50to me about an issue. And I think

1:43:51there's a If you could reword it, I'd be

1:43:53amenable to thinking about it.

1:43:55>> you reword it?

1:43:56>> I I I I want to reword it, Councilman

1:43:57Bergman.

1:43:58>> Councilman Rosen, I don't think that

1:44:01that particular item needs us to have a

1:44:04vote saying that we're supporting the

1:44:07review. I mean, if you want to say that

1:44:09we have presented it as you wanted, yes,

1:44:12I can vote for it. We've done that. Now,

1:44:15we cannot I I I mean, it's not asking,

1:44:17"Please come back and give us the report

1:44:19that whether you supported it or not."

1:44:20That's not the problem. That's not the

1:44:22issue there. The issue is just go ahead

1:44:24and present it to everybody about the

1:44:27charter review, and we did that. So, we

1:44:29can go back and report it to the council

1:44:31if they would like to know, and that's

1:44:32what I'd like to do, that

1:44:34>> So,

1:44:35>> we make a motion that the this the

1:44:38standing committee has made all possible

1:44:41effort to request to let the attending

1:44:44audience and those who are online to

1:44:46understand what is the process involved

1:44:49to change the charter of the plan E.

1:44:52We've given that.

1:44:55But, not saying that we're supporting it

1:44:57or we're not So, that's not the question

1:44:59here.

1:44:59>> ask the city clerk maybe for his opinion

1:45:01cuz he's experienced.

1:45:03>> Um through you, Chair, to the committee.

1:45:05So, basically, if I can make a

1:45:06recommendation to the committee, if you

1:45:09allow me, based on your chairman's

1:45:10orders previously, to take the testimony

1:45:12from tonight to bring back a report of

1:45:14what the residents testified tonight to

1:45:17the committee. I'll work with the

1:45:18solicitor to outline what is permissible

1:45:21via special act or charter amendment

1:45:24through the city council process, and

1:45:26what is permissible through a charter

1:45:28commission.

1:45:29>> Yes. So, if I can combine all the

1:45:31testimony tonight and at the next

1:45:34meeting if you decide to have another

1:45:35discussion on the charter commission

1:45:37provide you what the residents were

1:45:39requesting and what the council members

1:45:41were requesting as well of what is

1:45:43through special act and maybe some

1:45:44amendments locally

1:45:46through the state legislature and what

1:45:47is required through a charter commission

1:45:49review.

1:45:49>> So, Mr. Jimmy, we'll have another

1:45:50meeting on this particular topic.

1:45:52>> We will have another meeting definitely

1:45:54on

1:45:55>> So, yes, if

1:45:56>> Once that information

1:45:57>> a lot of reports to give back to them as

1:45:58I requested them and the manager

1:46:00>> So, another meeting on this topic. Mr.

1:46:02City Clerk, when do you think you'll

1:46:03have all that information?

1:46:04>> Mr. Chair to the council, based on what

1:46:06I heard tonight, you want to say ASAP,

1:46:08so I'll work on that as soon as

1:46:09possible.

1:46:09>> Okay. Okay.

1:46:11>> So

1:46:13>> We'll try it that way.

1:46:14>> So, I think I'm willing to

1:46:15>> So, I hope for the support of my two my

1:46:18two colleagues in this committee in the

1:46:20future. So, one more try, one more

1:46:22meeting, and let's see what what

1:46:24information we got. So, I'm willing to

1:46:26try that.

1:46:27>> Okay.

1:46:28>> All right. You have something you

1:46:30>> I did. I thought we could live with it,

1:46:31but I if we're going to move forward,

1:46:33that's fine, too. But, what I was going

1:46:34to suggest is language along the

1:46:36following lines that the subcommittees

1:46:39recommends that the full council support

1:46:42all all efforts of all residents

1:46:45review review in it support all efforts

1:46:48efforts

1:46:49of all residents in reviewing any

1:46:51charter change.

1:46:53>> Reviewing what?

1:46:54>> Any charter change. Any charter change.

1:46:56That doesn't mean there is there isn't.

1:46:57It's just we support everybody's efforts

1:47:00in reviewing whether there should be a

1:47:02charter change. I agree with that.

1:47:04>> Well, when we

1:47:05>> Let's hold both of

1:47:06>> motions. Let's get the clerk's

1:47:07information, okay? We'll have one more

1:47:09meeting, then we'll have an order come

1:47:10out of that. Does that make sense, Mr.

1:47:12Clerk?

1:47:12>> Um to chair to the committee, yes. And I

1:47:14think if you also want to make a

1:47:15chairman's order that I think Council

1:47:17Bergman brought up a good point. Uh what

1:47:19is the process to do a non-binding

1:47:22ballot question if you're to throw it

1:47:24out to the voters, I can also bring a

1:47:25report on that.

1:47:26>> Okay.

1:47:27Okay.

1:47:27So,

1:47:29um

1:47:29would you like to format the

1:47:31>> Yeah, so basically, the previous

1:47:33chairman's order was that I provide all

1:47:35the testimony from tonight from the

1:47:36residents.

1:47:37I'll work with the solicitor to

1:47:39determine what is, you know, based on

1:47:41what the residents provide a feedback

1:47:43that has to go before a charter

1:47:44commission and a full review and what

1:47:46needs to go in administratively through

1:47:48a special act or through our local

1:47:50review of our current charter and what

1:47:52is some of those sections that we can

1:47:55work with, whether it's council rules or

1:47:56something to that nature.

1:47:58And the second thing is Council Bergman

1:48:00asked for a

1:48:01a non-binding question. What does that

1:48:03process would look like if the council

1:48:05wanted to put a non-binding question in

1:48:072027

1:48:08to ask the residents for a a charter

1:48:11review.

1:48:12>> And you'll be able to bring it in the

1:48:13next meeting that

1:48:14>> Um I think, you know, I do have an

1:48:16election in 2 weeks, but I'll work

1:48:18tirelessly with the clerk and the rest

1:48:19of the clerk's

1:48:21Remember, it has to go to city council

1:48:22first in September before I can bring

1:48:24that report.

1:48:24>> So, can we vote collectively on all the

1:48:26motions on the floor now, Mr. Chairman?

1:48:28Collectively.

1:48:30Most of them will

1:48:32filing some of those orders anyway.

1:48:34Can we do that now?

1:48:36>> Is that okay with you too?

1:48:38>> Through the chair, if I'm if I'm

1:48:39understanding correctly, um are you

1:48:41looking to take a collective motion on

1:48:43the two filing fourth excuse me, on

1:48:46holding 3A and 4A and then filing 4B and

1:48:505A?

1:48:53>> Yes.

1:48:56I'll take a roll call now.

1:48:59>> Councilor Bergman.

1:49:00>> Yes.

1:49:01>> Councilor Rosen.

1:49:02>> Yes.

1:49:02>> And chairperson Councilor Mitra.

1:49:04>> Yes.

1:49:04>> Thank you, gentlemen.

1:49:06>> Thank you all for coming. Appreciate

1:49:08your listening and giving us the ideas

1:49:10of what needs to be done.

1:49:11>> Motion to adjourn, Mr. Chairman.

1:49:14>> Yes, a motion to adjourn.

1:49:18>> I.

1:49:19>> I.

1:49:28>> Thank you for that.

1:49:30Appreciate it.