Calendar of the Common Council, 4/2/07

As a weekly courtesy to our readers, based on comments posted in the past two weeks, we will now publish the weekly calendars for the Common Council and Board of Aldermen meetings.

REGULAR MEETING OF THE COMMON COUNCIL, MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2007, 7:00 PM, CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 3RD FL., EVERETT, MASS
COMMUNICATIONS FROM HIS HONOR THE MAYOR
1.
C0089-07 Order/s/Councilor Sal DiDomenico, as PresidentAppropriating $434,000.00 from Budgetary Fund Balance to the Everett School Department Personnel Account to offset the cost of both the City's full-day kindergarten and re-establishment of the Pre-School Program for three and four year olds.

2.
C0090-07 Order/s/Councilor Sal DiDomenico, as PresidentThat the amount of $42,000.00 be transferred from Code Enforcement Division-Salaries Account to the Parking Clerk-Salaries Account to staff the night time parking sticker program.

3.
C0091-07 Order/s/Councilor Sal DiDomenico, as PresidentThat the amount of $2,000.00 is hereby transferred from the Code Enforcement Task Force Division-Salaries Account to the Parking Clerk-Clothing Allowance Account for night time staff attire for parking sticker program.

4.
C0092-07 Order/s/Councilor Sal DiDomenico, as PresidentThat the transfer of $23,000.00 is hereby allowed from Budget Office to Purchasing Department for an additional clerical person due to the Office being extremely labor intensive, reporting to have increased requisitions from approximately 4000 annually to 100,000.



PAPERS FROM THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN
5.
A0374-06 Ordinance/s/Alderman Stephen SmithTo prohibit parking on Englewood Ave, east side, from Vaughn Street to the Chelsea line, at the request of area residents, in the interest of public safety. (Ordained sent down for ordainment)

6.
A0077-07 Ordinance/s/Alderman Frank NuzzoRelative to regulating and licensing of Commercial garages, auto body shops and automobile repair shops. (Ordained sent down for ordainment)

7.
A0086-07 Ordinance/s/Alderman Robert Van CampenTo amend Section 18-149(e)(6) "Designation Criteria" of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett to read as follows: "Any trailer whether or not attached to a vehicle with a residential parking sticker." (Ordained sent down for ordainment)

8.
A0018-07 Ordinance/s/Aldermen Joseph McGonagle and L. Charles DiPerriTo amend the Riverfront Overlay District to extend from Route 99 along Mystic-Malden Rivers to the Malden line. (Enrolled sent down for enrollment)

9.
A0101-07 Resolution/s/Alderman L. Charles DiPerri and Councilor Joseph HickeyThat the City repave Cedar Street, Bennett Street and Yarmouth Street. (Passed sent down for concurrence to send to Mayor, Community Development and City Services.)

10.
A0125-07 Resolution/s/Alderman Joseph McGonagle, as PresidentResolution in support of restoring the 40% cut in the FY '08 Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief Fund. (Passed sent down for concurrence to refer to State Representatives, as listed, as well as, House Ways & Means Chairman.)

11.
A0126-07 Resolution/s/Aldermen Robert J. Van CampenThat the City of Everett denounce the recent decision of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs concerning the proposed materials handling facility for the Boston Water & Sewer Commission. (Passed sent down for concurrence to send to Mayor's Office for response back to Board of Aldermen April 23rd meeting)



COMMUNICATIONS
12.
C0317-06 Communication/s/Councilor Wayne A. MatewskyReconsideration filed by Councilor Wayne A. Matewsky on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 2:18 p.m. relative to Ordinance offered by Councilor Joseph R. King-To abolish fees for the removal of white goods, that is, refrigerators, stoves, et cetera. (Enrolled sent up for enrollment in the Common Council Monday, March 19th, 2007)

13.
C0041-07 CommunicationNegative Traffic Commission Report on Resolution offered by Councilor Rosa DiFlorio that Disability Commission and Traffic Commission consider placing additional handicapped parking spot in the City Hall parking lot, with unfavorable recommendation (4-0).



COMMITTEE REPORTS
14.
C0076-07 Committee ReportAdministrative Affairs Committee Report on Ordinance that In accordance with Chapter 7, Section 7-164 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett, to adjust compensation for the following Administrative Officers effective July 1, 2007: City Auditor minimum $74,819.51, maximum $85,856.04; City Solicitor minimum $70,249.12 maximum $80,613.57; and City Treasurer minimum $65,888.68 maximum $75,696.58; with favorable recommendation.

15.
C0005-07 Committee ReportAdministrative Affairs Committee Report on Resolution offered by Councilor Michael Mangan-That the Joint Committee on Finance conduct research into compensation that is provided in other Cities for the office of Mayor, City Council and School Committee and that the Committee reports back their findings; with favorable recommendation to amend to an Ordinance, and amend the annual salary to $5,500.00 starting January 2008, no retroactive pay, no health benefits, and to be part of the pension plan.

16.
C0046-07 Committee ReportAdministrative Affairs Committee Report on Order that the City Council hereby establishes an annual salary of $6,000.00 to be paid to the Clerk of the Common Council effective July 1, 2007; with a favorable recommendation to amend the annual salary to $5,000.00.

17.
C0047-07 Committee ReportAdministrative Affairs Committee Report on Order that the City Council hereby establishes an annual salary of $6,000.00 to be paid to the Clerk of the Board of Aldermen effective July 1, 2007; with a favorable recommendation to amend the annual salary to $5,000.00.


18.
C0048-07 Committee ReportAdministrative Affairs Committee Report on Order that the City Council hereby establishes an annual salary of $48,000.00 to be paid to the City Council Administrative Assistant effective July 1, 2007; with favorable recommendation.

19.
C0049-07 Committee ReportAdministrative Affairs Committee Report on Ordinance that in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 2, Section 2-102, "Compensation" of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett, the salary of the Clerk of Committees shall be $27,000.00 annually, effective July 1, 2007, with favorable recommendation.

20.
C0398-06 Committee ReportRules & Ordinances Committee Report on Resolution offered by Councilor Joseph Hickey that the Rules & Ordinances Committee establish an ordinance that there will be no transport of any waste deemed to be hazardous through the City of Everett; with a recommendation for favorable action on the attached Ordinance 18-184 "Transportation of Waste Matter, Sewage" as amended.

21.
C0071-07 Committee ReportRules & Ordinances Committee Report on Ordinance offered by Councilor Leo McKinnon that anyone within city limits spray painting graffiti on any part of our city property, public property, personnel property, schools, parks, businesses, cars and streets from one end of the city to the other end of the city will be punished by a fine of no less than $300.00 per incident. Any subsequent thereafter will be punishable by a $500.00 fine per incident. This is whether you were seen in the open doing it or by a phone call to police to catch you at a later date; with a recommendation to refer back to sponsor.

22.
C0073-07 Committee ReportRules & Ordinances Committee Report on Ordinance offered by Councilor Leo McKinnon that when Code Enforcement enters a dwelling and it is in plain site that doors are bolted per each room in a household, for utilization of one bed room apartments within a larger dwelling, they should, at this point, be fined by the Fire Department on fire code violations up to $300.00 per locked door for fire safety codes, as well as, the minimum occupancy space allowed per living area. In addition to the fines for the locks on the doors the homeowner will receive an additional $500.00 fine for not complying with our current fire laws. This will become a problem when we have our city's real first fire with thirty-seven (37) people dead, which will make national news; with a recommendation to refer back to Sponsor.



UNFINISHED BUSINESS
23.
C0024-07 Resolution/s/Councilor John Leo McKinnonThat Chief Steven Mazzie and Chief David Butler appear this meeting February 5th relative to discussing the evacuation route designation from Boston into Everett and why we do not have any designation of an evacuation route for the City of Everett.

24.
C0006-07 Resolution/s/Councilor John Leo McKinnonThat the City of Everett consider adding on their next bills, that we have a box to give ($1.00) one dollar to youth sports, as this would help youth programs off-set the traveling cost to the parents, and would not leave any child out of the activities. (Amended by deleting "as this would help youth programs off-set the traveling cost to the parents" and insert "within the City of Everett Youth Organizations")(Amended by deleting word "parents" and inserting "child" and referred to Mayor for response this meeting (4/2).

25.
C0058-07 Resolution/s/Councilor Rosa DiFlorioThat the Owner and Supervisor of Capital Waste appear before the Common Council due to many complaints on throwing of barrels and inappropriate language being used.

26.
C0072-07 Resolution/s/Councilor Leo McKinnonThat Code Enforcement appear at this meeting to give us updates on all current boarding houses in the City of Everett, and what has been done to make them conform to our laws in the City. To also give updates on new non-legal boarding houses starting up all over the City, and how to combat them from starting.

27.
C0052-07 Resolution/s/Councilor Michael ManganThat Representative Stephen Smith appear this meeting to discuss the way the lottery aid is distributed throughout the Commonwealth.



NEW BUSINESS
28.
C0081-07 Resolution/s/Councilor Catherine Tomassi HicksThat the City consider building an indoor pool for use by the citizens of the City of Everett.

29.
C0082-07 Resolution/s/Councilor Leo McKinnonMayor consider appearing this meeting to explain the recent letter that was mailed out to city council members with regards to the forensic audit.

30.
C0083-07 Resolution/s/Councilor Leo McKinnonThat Sgt. Bova of the Police Traffic Division appear this meeting relative to discussing the city wide no parking here to corner law, and especially at Bryant Terrace and Ferry Street.

31.
C0084-07 Ordinance/s/Councilor Leo McKinnonThat no temporary housing may be used except with the written permission of the Board of Health and Code Enforcement of the City of Everett. Any one not in compliance with this Section 410.430: 105 CMR Department of Public Health shall be subject to Section 1.8 of the City of Everett Revised Ordinances.

32.
C0085-07 Ordinance/s/Councilor Leo McKinnonEgress Obstruction: No person shall obstruct any exit or passageway. The owner is responsible for maintaining free from obstruction every exit used or intended for use by occupants of more than one dwelling unit or rooming house units. The occupant shall be responsible for maintaining free from obstruction all means of exit leading from his/her unit and not common to the exit of any other unit. Any one not complying with 105 CMR Department of Public Health Sec:410.451: and Sec. 1.8 of the City of Everett Revised Ordinances shall be fined by said Ordinance 1.8 City of Everett.

33.
C0086-07 Ordinance/s/Councilor Leo McKinnonMinimum Square FootageA. Every dwelling unit shall contain at least 150 square feet of floor space for its first occupant, and at least 100 square fee of floor space for each additional occupant. The floor space to be calculated on the basis of total habitable room area.B. In a dwelling unit, every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one occupant shall contain at leat 80 square feet of floor space. Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than one occupant shall contain at least 60 square feet of floor space for each occupant. C. In a Rooming House Unit, every room occupied for sleeping purposes by one occupant shall contain at least 90 square feet of floor space. Every room occupied for sleeping purposes by more than one occupant shall contain at least 70 square feet for each occupant. If not in compliance of this ordinance the subject or property owner will be fined according to Massachusetts 105 CMR Department of Public Health Sec. 410.400. And Sec. 1.8 of the City of Everett Revised Ordinances.

34.
C0087-07 Resolution/s/Councilors Rosa DiFlorio and Cynthia SarnieThe Mr. Paul Kelly, Parking Clerk/Hearing Officer, appear this meeting of the Common Council, Monday, April 2, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., to discuss City of Everett policy on accepting payment for tickets and explain why tickets can only be paid by cash.

35.
C0088-07 Resolution/s/Councilors Cynthia Sarnie and Stephen FaiaThat the Police Department and the City Services Department work together on any street cleaning/enforcement issues, especially at 136 Main Street. Police ticket violators of the street-cleaning ordinance; otherwise City Services clean area by broom and shovel, which is what is being requested by complainant at 136 Main Street.


Adjournment
Respectfully submitted,
Caroline McCorry
Administrative Assistant,
Everett City Council Office
Council@ci.everett.ma.us


SCHEDULED CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATES TO NOTE:
4/3 6PM CELEBRATION COMMITTEE MEETING
4/9 6:30PM LICENSE COMMITTEE MEETING
4/9 7PM BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING
4/12 6:30PM FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
4/17 7PM COMMON COUNCIL MEETING (TUESDAY)
4/18 6PM BILLS & ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE MEETING
4/23 7PM BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEETING
http://cityofeverett.com

True Budget Train Wreck

The first three cars of the Hanlon True Budget Train came cruising into City Hall Monday night looking to replenish their fuel supply in the form of tax dollars they loaded up on at the beginning of the fiscal '07 budget (a supply that the Mayor guaranteed us was more than adequate to see them through the next budget season) after having run through that fuel supply with 3 1/2 months still remaining on the trip. The conductor has lost direction, and the True Budget Train is careening out of control.

Based on Monday night's requests, these three cars alone require additional fuel totalling over half a million dollars in order for the Train to reach it's June 30th destination.

Lest we overextend the metaphor, here's what happened at the meeting. Three department heads -- Walter Rice of Veterans' Services, Barry Doyle of Facilities Maintenance, and Treasurer Dom D'Angelo -- came before the Board of Aldermen requesting transfers from free cash to see them through the rest of the fiscal year.

Walter Rice, who by all evidence is dedicated to providing services to our veterans, was upfront in admitting he underbudgeted and failed to anticipate additional expenditures that would be required by the return of soldiers fighting in Iraq. His request was for $45,000.

Barry Doyle had two separate requests -- $30,000 to cover unexpected telephone expenses and $10,000 to cover unexpected overtime expenses. The "unexpected telephone expenses" consisted of charges incurred due to, Mr. Doyle said, "employee behavior." In other words, employees were misusing business telephone services. Overuse of 411 and the *69 feature, along with excessive long distance phone calls, were among the actions which had caused the telephone charges in the Facilities Maintenance Department to increase by over $1,000 per month over fiscal '06. The additional overtime funding was, Mr. Doyle said, was a result of requests by the administration to provide additional custodial services not previously budgeted, primarily for meetings taking place in the evenings and on Saturdays at City Hall.

Domenic D'Angelo appeared to request $488,000+ to cover a check that had already been written on an account that had only 8 cents in it to make a payment on a short term loan. He spent money that was not in the account, hedging his bets that when free cash was certified, the Board of Aldermen would simply approve the transfer to replenish the fund. They did not.

There are many things that could be said about this overspending, but that's not the issue here today. The issue is the Hanlon True Budget Train -- or should we call it the Phantom Express, because clearly this "true budget" never existed. The True Budget Train is now the True Budget Train Wreck, and it is likely that more cars of the train are going to follow -- crashing into the Council chamber, looking for the City Council to save them from themselves. The Board of Aldermen were unwilling to perform immediately repairs on the first three cars of the train wreck and have sent them to the Finance Committee for further evaluation of the damage they've inflicted upon themselves. Only time will tell whether this train ever gets back on track.

The Long and Winding Road

With apologies to the Beatles, the long and winding road that leads to the eventual release of the forensic audit report took a bizarre twist this week with the announcement by Mayor Hanlon that the US Attorney's office was now involved in the "investigation." The Mayor claimed, in a public statement read to the Common Council, that in addition to the Inspector General, the Attorney General and the US Attorney had also been consulted in the past few months, and the US Attorney's office had contacted him over last weekend to request an additional 30 days to complete their investigation.

Wow. These are quite the revelations, given that for the past several weeks, the Mayor has been promising the release of the audit as soon as the final signed report was received. There has never been any mention of the AG or the US Attorney prior to this announcement. This was a jolting turn in the long and winding road.

Call us crazy (and many of you will, in colorful language), but something doesn't seem quite right here. When the public discussion of the audit first began last June, the Mayor insinuated sinister goings on from the previous administration had been discovered when he came into office. When he appeared before city government requesting the $60,000 appropriation to pay for the audit, he wouldn't elaborate on what the issues were but assured us that it was "serious."

Months went by, and finally, several weeks ago, the Mayor was requested to appear before the Common Council for an update. By this time, he had received a draft of the report but was still unwilling to share any of the results. Since that time, the road has become a little bumpy, as the Mayor has made a number of contradictory statements in his appearances before the Common Council.

First, he and his advisors were reviewing the draft report; no changes would be made to the draft, he said, but there were some points of it that needed clarification -- the infamous "if I can't understand it, the average person won't understand it" gaffe. The Mayor also said that once the final report was received, it would only be released in Executive Session because the results may implicate particular individuals. He later had to retract that statement because, he said, he was advised that once the final signed report was received, it was a public document and had to be released to whoever wanted to see it.

Next, the report was back in the hands of Melanson and Heath, taking weeks to complete, which seemed odd if there were no edits being made to it. How long does it take to fix one typo and return the report? Again, the Mayor assured us that as soon as the report was received, the Council would be the first ones to see it. He also, at that time, mentioned four of the five departments that had been the focus of the audit, unable to remember the fifth one.

That brings us to this past Monday, and the sudden involvement of the AG and the US Attorney, the Mayor's announcement that, once again, the report would only be released in Executive Session, his statement that no one in City Hall other than himself had read the audit, and his claim that he would not release the departments covered in the audit when he had already listed out four of them two weeks ago. But let's look at the most . . . questionable . . . claim made at this meeting.

The Mayor's claim that an agency that has never before been mentioned in any discussion of this audit was now requesting an additional 30 days to complete an investigation that had apparently been going on for at least a few months seems . . . suspect. His claims that he gave the US Attorney's office his own deadline -- "I told them that they had to tell me exactly what they needed -- if they needed 30 days, they had to tell me now; I told them that on April 23, no matter what you say, I'm releasing the report"-- seems completely ridiculous. The US Attorney's office does not accept ultimatums from local elected officials. The US Attorney's office, under the jurisdiction of the federal Department of Justice, will not be dictated to. This is a department that manages homeland security, investigates terrorist threats against the United States, and has hunted down some of the most dangerous criminals in history. Yet the Mayor of Everett claims to be dictating terms on what, to them, has to be one of the lowest level investigations ever conducted, if it's being conducted at all.

Only time is going to tell what lies at the end of this long and winding road. Will it be Hanlon's pot of gold, or the equivalent of Al Capone's vault -- a whole lot of empty?

To Pay or Not to Pay

That will be the question before the Common Council this evening as they vote on whether to compensate the Everett School Committee to the tune of $6350 per member per year. Additionally, there is a recommendation from the Finance Committee that the pay be retroactive to January of this year.

There's a lot of emotion tied to this issue; people have very strong feelings about the School Committee and the job that they do -- or what some people feel is the job that they fail to do. Some people feel that the School Committee, in its current make up, has been nothing more than a rubber stamp for what the Superintendent wants to do. There's certainly enough evidence to support that contention.

Unfortunately, the city charter allows the city council to establish a salary for the members of the school committee (Section 52); however, it seems that MGL would prohibit the retroactive pay. According to Chapter 39, Section 6A of MGL, "No increase or reduction in such salaries shall take effect during the year in which such increase or reduction is voted, and no change in such ordinance shall be made between the election of a new council or other legislative body and the qualification of the new council or other legislative body." One could argue that the School Committee qualifies as an "other legislative body." A twist to this, however, is that while our charter accepted this law, the charter applies it only to the salary of the mayor and the city council; it is not included in the section that provides for a salary of the school committee. Section 52 provides that the city council can establish and change the salary from time to time, but says nothing about the effective date of such actions.

One could also argue that this particular school committee was elected on the basis of not being provided a salary; it doesn't make sense to provide them with a salary half way through their term. If they must, and it seems that they will, provide a salary for the school committee, surely such a provision should be subject to the same law that's applied to salary changes for the mayor and the city council -- that the salary not take affect until the next municipal year -- in this case, until January, 2008

It will be interesting to see how the Common Council dances their way around this. It cannot escape them that this is not going to be a popular move, nor is it clear that it's even the right thing to do. They're playing a dangerous political game, and they could come out on the losing end.