The Mayor's Update: February 28, 2020
What I Did This Week
This week I learned that it’s no joke when your website goes down! The City of Melrose uses an outside provider for its website, and on Monday their servers went down – not just in Melrose but in many of the other communities they serve. The first thing we did was post the early voting information on the city Twitter and my Facebook, along with contact information so we could answer questions if needed.
There was a bigger problem, though: Our website is where we post our meeting notices, and because of the Open Meeting Law, if the site was down for six hours we would have to cancel all meetings for the next two days. Monday and Tuesday were busy days, with a lot of important meetings scheduled. As the zero hour approached, we prepared notices, Tweets, and press releases to get the news out, and then – literally, just as several of us were about to hit “send” on our computers – we got a call from Steve Maio, the town manager of Wakefield, letting us know the website was back up. Disaster averted!
The site went down for a while on Tuesday as well, but this time they were able to get it back up more quickly. We also learned that even when the site is down, you can still get to our meeting portal for schedules and agendas.
We did manage to do some other things as well!
Voting: Early voting went incredibly smoothly, and I am grateful to our Clerk of Elections, Joanne Perperian, and our City Clerk, Amy Kamosa, for all the extra work they did to ensure this would go well. They had a great system set up. Remember, if you’re voting on Tuesday, that you will have to sign in twice and complete two ballots, one for the Presidential primary and one for the state general election. 2,316 ballots have been cast so far. For those of you who haven’t voted, be sure to vote on Tuesday March 3 between 7am and 8pm at your usual polling place.
City Council: On Monday evening, the City Council approved the proposed structure for the Commission on Disabilities. We are now going to move forward with implementation; if you are interested in serving, send my office an e-mail at volunteer@cityofmelrose.org and let us know why you are interested.
The Council also approved our proposed changes to Melrose’s retail liquor licensing laws. Now it goes to the House and Senate for required State approval.
Chamber of Commerce: On Tuesday, I addressed the Chamber of Commerce. I very much appreciate them as well as the Rising Eagle who hosted us.
Catching up with other Mayors: I spent Wednesday morning at the Mass Mayors Association meeting in Newton. I had a great and wide-ranging discussion regarding a variety of topics including the implementation of local climate action plans. We also heard from Secretary of Education Peyser about recent developments in state education policy including the Student Opportunity Act as well as important developments relative to career and technical education.
Social Services Summit: We convened a meeting of a variety of local social services providers and clergy members to discuss ways we can better coordinate helping those in need in Melrose. At the table was the Melrose Council on Aging, the Emergency Fund, the Red Cross, the office of Planning and Community Development, St. Vincent DePaul, MelroseWakefield Healthcare, Mystic Valley Elder Services, members of the Melrose clergy association, our Veterans Services Officer, Malden Overcoming Addiction, and several others. We made a lot of progress in identifying ways each of our organizations can communicate and collaborate to ensure that we are helping our neighbors to the best of our ability.
Farmers Market: It was great to catch up with Ali DiMatteo and Julie Unger from the Melrose Farmer’s Market. This market is a valued part of the community and I’m happy to help this dedicated team put together another successful season.
Litter Around Town: Melrose is a beautiful city, but we can do better. I’m excited to have had the opportunity to meet with Demi Dubois and Ed Schmitt to hear about their ideas to invite citizen action to beautify Melrose. More to come!
Congrats to the Champs: For the second time in three years (sound familiar?) the Melrose wrestling team are your State Champions. I’m very proud of their continuing success.
What I’m Doing Next Week
The most important day of the week is Tuesday, because that’s Election Day. If you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to vote early, please make sure you vote on Tuesday! The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can check your polling place and see a sample ballot at Secretary Galvin’s Voter Resources Page.
On Monday morning I will be meeting with staff from the schools and the DCR to further discuss the intersection of Melrose Street and the Lynn Fells Parkway, which is right next to the high school and the middle school. On Friday, the School Building Committee will meet to discuss their next steps. In between, I will continue having budget meetings with our department heads as we firm up the FY 2021 budget.