I agree with the above poster. Now it's just getting ridiculous....that space is a disaster, and now you people want to squash any and all investment in infrastructure just because the mayor is involved? I am not an architect or an engineer, I don't need to weigh in on every capital improvement project my city undertakes. Updating the resource center is a good investment.

The override, however, is not. The problems at the high school involve the staff and curriculum. That's what people should focus on.

What are you talking about? They most certainly have "proposed" an override - the Mayor himself has talked about it on several occasions. I would not be shocked if such talk of an override is meant as a smokescreen to deflect and divert attention away from this project, hoping to ram it through without due diligence. Sounds like the same kind of two-step our Mayor is so good at. My distrust of this administration has grown so acute that I'm starting to see ulterior motives under every rock.

There are ulterior motives under every rock, and a lot of stupidity and arrogance besides. The mayor still plans to put forward his override, and his technology upgrade, but he thought this MHS thing was a slam-dunk, which he wanted resolved last night so that he could march ahead with all the rest. Fortunately there were a few aldermen awake at the wheel (can't always count on that, since they routinely rubberstamp most things). The mayor and administration/SC think that the public owes its unquestioning allegiance to them. They are wrong. Their arrogance is astounding. It's about time a few other elected officials understand what's at stake and who they represent!

All for fixing MHS (a new building is not a remote possibility, especially after they went ahead with that $6.3 million dollar science labs thing). But there's a legitimate way to do this, not the crass hack job that took place last night.

I'll bet the MM Clown Patrol a moratorium that the funding authorization goes through no problem on the improvements to the existing resource center. If the board votes to Approve the funding authorization all the whiners and haters need to take a one month vacation from the whiner board known as Melrose Messages. If it doesn't pass I promise to never post on this board again. No more clown patrol jokes, no more calling Myron a blowhard or a fool, etc., etc. etc.

None of you @ssholes will take the bet because you know all this chest beating today is all the noise you can make, and when the funding authorization goes through and the space gets renovated it will simply be just one more loss for the anti-Melrose crowd.

I support in theory what has been proposed. However, last night's BOA meeting was a disgrace. Questions could not be answered and incomplete information had been submitted a couple of hours before the meeting. Another rush job. It is being pushed just like the Mayor's raise. The BOA GIC/26% raise has come back to haunt the Mayor and the BOA members who traded their votes for taxpayer funded health insurance. Also, Infurna quoting a Whitney Houston song and the sweet gush job comments by Margolis will not help garner support for the proposal. Denise Gaffey is usually impressive. But last night she was not prepared and hurt her reputation. MD and KT in the camera background also harms the cause in many's eyes. The Aldermen need to slow down, review complete facts and figures and demand a professional due process. Hopefully, the bond will then be approved.

Bird & Boiselle were grandstanding...

This administration has borrowed and built...on time and under budget... well over $100,000,000 in capital projects in the City of Melrose...without a single hitch. Bird & Boiselle couldn't put a bird house together.

This was all about payback (Bird) and grandstanding (Boiselle) by two individuals who no nothing about the subjects they were questioning.

Bird's still ***** the raise got firmly shoved down her throat, and Boiselle likes to hear himself talk.

The motion will pass, the renovation will happen, and it will be done in the same fashion projects have always been done by this administration.

"by two individuals who no nothing about the subjects they were questioning."

This from the ignoramus who KNOWS nothing.

You are a City Hall sycophant with the obvious agenda, defending Mr. 26%. Pathetic and predictable.

"Bird's still ***** the raise got firmly shoved down her throat"

Oh that's nice talk... sounds like the Chief Bully, Mr. 26% himself gloating and showing his true, violent, revolting misogynist colors.

Even the Weekly News is checking this message board and including commentary about the negative feedback this $5.3 million-dollar project is garnering, so the mayor's minions can try to marginalize this site all it wants, but the truth is still seeping out despite RD's efforts to stifle it. This administration (mayor and superintendent/SC) have burned many bridges, and now they're seeing the results of their poor treatment of those they mistreated. Abusing power has been their mode, and now they're paying for it. Their characteristic arrogance and lack of humility is now coming to bite them, as it should. Even when what they are proposing might have merit, they will be fighting much tougher battles for credibility and passage of anything that requires wider approval/votes.

As was observable Thursday night when Rob and Cyndy didn't get their way, they are/were stunned and prone to fits of bad temper in the face of any resistance, as if this kind of juvenile response to difficulty is perfectly appropriate in their exalted positions. It would never occur to them to step back and reflect that perhaps those two-plus hours of being grilled about the MHS renovation might have been prevented or made more friendly if they had been appropriately respectful in how they presented the project--making sure there had been a full, open process with wide input from the community, fully vetting all the plans and making sure they were given to SC and BOA in complete form and in plenty of time (instead of at the last minute, with implied threats in their "aggressive schedule"), and maybe even demonstrating an iota of humility in asking the community to foot another large bill that won't get paid off until 2043 (instead of having Patrick arrogantly shoving that 5% debt service in everyone's faces as if they are automatically entitled to burden the taxpayers with more debt for the projects they have deemed politically expedient).

Few would disagree that the high school facility (and administration and faculty and curriculum!) is/are in sore need of improvement. It's too late to talk about building a new facility after the millions just expended on a new roof and science labs. That ship sailed. (And there, too, criticism could have been lessened if there hadn't been so much arrogance in the way those projects were shoved ahead as a fete accompli without appropriate community engagement and consultation with specialists beyond those that carry the mayor's water.) How and what gets improved at MHS should be a community decision, to the extent that this is possible.

Melrose is terrible at public engagement now. That is at the heart of so much of the trouble. It's terrible because those in power have chronically abused that power and the trust and because they put forward their version of the "public" as those who agree and kowtow to them, not a true representation of the whole community at all. McLaughlin has given much to the community, but he isn't all of it. Same true of that Melrose Ed Foundation, which gives a lot, but it by no means represents all of the community, despite its arrogant behavior. Rob loves to fling back criticism with his arrogant claims of success at the polling booth instead of a mature and reflective approach that demonstrates some humility. CT is at least as bad. Time for Melrose and its representatives to grow up!

Let me see if I have this straight - the current school budget is about $35 mil (someone correct me if I'm wrong please). Taymore and Dolan want to increase that by 11%, or $3.5 mil. As if that isn't nonsensical enough, now they come forward with this plan to bond another $5.3 mil in HS renovations. Do these people think we are made of money, or that we all have money trees in our backyard? I haven't figured out how I'm going to pay my water and sewer bill yet.

Typo - $25 mil. 11% = 2.86 mil.

Here is something to think about - You can't fill an endless hole with money- no matter how hard you try - there is never enough money! However, the Democrats,who essentially run this city, think otherwise so you will always get the refrain - "We need more money!"

Show up tonight at the BOA mtg where this boondoggle will get voted. Just watch the fiasco unfold. A couple will present some reasoned evidence that this thing is a dog that was never properly developed or scrutinized, one will question endlessly about nonsensical stuff just to hear himself talk, one or two will be snoozing, the rest will huff and puff about how marvelous and necessary it is regardless of whether it makes sense or was formulated sensibly and transparently, CrocodileTears MaryBeth will gush about how great it is there will be a kitchenette, and then they'll all vote to pass it because in the end no one has any ball$ or backbone when push comes to shove. Maybe the moon will be aligned in a better way and they'll put it on hold again, which would be great, but not counting on that. They all care too much about themselves at the polling booth and very little about what's actually in front of them for a vote.

I'll bet the MM Clown Patrol a moratorium that the funding authorization goes through no problem on the improvements to the existing resource center. If the board votes to Approve the funding authorization all the whiners and haters need to take a one month vacation from the whiner board known as Melrose Messages. If it doesn't pass I promise to never post on this board again. No more clown patrol jokes, no more calling Myron a blowhard or a fool, etc., etc. etc.

None of you @ssholes will take the bet because you know all this chest beating today is all the noise you can make, and when the funding authorization goes through and the space gets renovated it will simply be just one more loss for the anti-Melrose crowd.

You can't fill the first row of a meeting never mind getting anything accomplished.

The Clown Patrol or the Fellowship of the Miserable, do not have enough members to get a second on any motion made at their meeting.

The ugly ones have just climbed out from their slimy dark holes in order to taunt and proclaim their shallow (and very costly) victories in this lousy little morality (or lack thereof) tale that has become Melrose politics. "Robert's Rules" indeed. Pretty easy to see the lineage of those posts.

These creeps may as well have at it because Melrose apparently needs to see things get a lot worse before enough wake up and step up to demand something better. The ugliness must not be quite bad enough, which is really sad, especially for the kids here.[:-|]

I don't think there is anyone who thinks it won't pass. There is no need to "take the bet". That is the whole point of it. I know it will pass, and I know why it will pass, and I know there is nothing that can be done about it. I know that even the BOA members who act like they want to be fiscally responsible will cave when push comes to shove, even if they really do feel like this is a misguided plan. Why do you care if I want to complain about the fact that more money is being spent without any sense or thought? Why do you care if people want to "whine" or "hate" on this board? I certainly don't care that you have to have your say. You can call names all you want. I know it is because you need to do that to feel good about your city. Have at it. I feel like that is why MM exists. Have your say, vent your frustrations, disagree with me, and I will feel free to do the same. Not sure why I would "bet" with you, though.

It will pass because the upgrades are desperately needed, this area of the building is a dump, anyone who has visited it or seen it can plainly see that it needs renovation.

Let me see....they want to upgrade the empty space to an empty space with other things in it for 5.3 millions dollars - essentially no additonal walls or installations. Wow...in Melrose - that makes sense. The fact that we have good teachers leaving the system, incompetent admin, and a totally disengaged school committee with the pubic, tells me that we are misspending tax and bond dollars.

Myron, you should worry more about your waist line. You know nothing about the project and less about public education. Take up the challenge blow hard, get a full front row seated in the chamber tonight and present your opinions.

Sad to say, it's easy to see why there's so much bullying by the kids when there are so-called adults brutalizing others like this, with no scruples whatsoever about attacking someone based on physical appearance, name-calling, etc. This is what passes for discourse in Melrose now, since there isn't any real dialogue anymore. It's the "you're for us or you're against us" mentality (saw this also when the Middle school project was proposed) instead of anything approaching a mature and civil conversation. Even sadder is that the person writing this hateful stuff is probably someone who "walks the Walk," meaning the MAAV walk. This kind of hypocrisy and bullying conduct doesn't just hurt whomever is the target on Melrose Messages, but in fact it hurts the whole community.

Climb down off of your high horse long enough to search the MM Whiner blog to find the garbage written on this board about Dolan, SC members and CT, much of it by the rotund blowhard. This site was started by individuals who seek to anonymously disparage public officials and the school system...many who also walk in MAAV.

That's right, Clown Patrol Captain: Thanks to KT and the rest of the school committee tyrants (not you CKK) ,Myron can wait late into the night for the public comment period, while the SC is shutting down their computers, turning down the lights and putting on their coats, making his comments as well as any other citizen's irrelevant. Nice strategy ,RD and KT. That little annoyance we call the "Citizens of Melrose" have finally been neutralized.[:-|]

In a 10 to 0 blowout vote the Board of Alderman unanimously approved the high school renovation project. There were no members of the public at the Board of Alderman meeting representing any group critical of the project or the school department. What a shocker. You clowns are pathetic. Your champions on the board postured to a much lesser degree than the previous meeting when nothing was really on the line...and then voted for the project. What a lonely place it is to know you delusional whiners are right and the rest of the community just doesn't get it. Criticize the SC, MEC, and other community advocates all you want...at least they have the b@lls to put themselves out there and publicly fight for what they believe in.

The name-caller can gloat all she or he wants. Plenty of thinking voters are watching and many are not at all happy with the conduct of Melrose public officials. The out and out contempt shown for any kind of Democratic process, with these fake dog-and-pony shows and rubber-stamped, preordained votes is all very obvious. Melrose has been apathetic for many years, but this contemptuous conduct by elected and paid officials is leading to what many hope will be the tipping point. One of these things will be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back. At that point there will be a rude awakening for these contemptuous public officials when hopefully enough people will show up to be counted and let their displeasure be known publicly. So far Contempt Wins and the Public Loses. This isn't about improving the high school, as is plainly clear for anyone with half a brain. This is about the crassest and most cynical abuse of the public trust that Melrose has seen unfold the last few years by unmitigated political opportunists.

So to the name-calling individual who displays such openly hateful and contemptuous attitudes, go ahead and gloat. Your "victory" is shallow and your mode demonstrates what you are really all about.

I think you are deluding yourself. I know that if the renovations had not passed last night, the Alderman would have been under a lot of heat. You wish that the town of Melrose was turning against the administration but all of the people that I speak to see the growth in the town, the sound bond rating, the well maintained parks, the investment in the schools, a revitalized downtown, an increase in property values, great programs for families and seniors - these are all positive indicators that the town is going in the right direction. Have you walked through downtown Wakefield lately? It is definitely different than downtown Melrose and not in a good way. And while you may gripe and moan and see some sort of anti-Melrose administration movement amongst the people on the board, if you think this is part of a greater movement among the people of Melrose you will be very surprised and disappointed in the next election when Dolan wins big again. And enrollment in the schools is increasing too which may be an indication that people think that they are on the upswing too.

If you look at the plan submitted last night, that project is much more then just a technology center - I am personally so pleased it passed and thank the Alderman for approving it.

The Chinese have a saying: "Don't laugh at the crocodile until you have crossed the river,"
The Aldermen and Mayor are up for election in November.

Thank you ASSSSS *ole[:)]

Are you a coulrophiliac? My god you have an obsession with clowns. Perverse, Morty.

Public, that is one delusional rant.

1) What is happening is the democratic process, you simply don't like the results.
2) Melrose has been far from apathetic, just look at the Balfour candidacy, the Mroz SC candidacy, the Patti Wright SC/Mayor candidacy, and the Middle School override...the majority of Melrose voters are paying attention and will continue to do so. They simply don't share your views and you are p*ssed about it. It's not apathy, in fact, its the opposite. The tipping point occurred when Balfour got destroyed, the Middle School was built and PW and GM finished dead last.
3) Nothing will change in the next election. Melrose is electing the officials it wants.
4) The project clearly is about improving the high school.
5) The crassest and most cynical abuse of public trust in Melrose was either the tot lot scandal or the 12th hole scandal at Mt. Hood, both done by Republican mayors and the long held establishment in Melrose that Dolan threw out on their ears. You clowns should take a message from Dolan's play book. You want change you run for office, convince the public, and get elected.
6) My victory is enormous. I will gloat all I want. Hate? No. Ridicule, yes. You clowns are a pack of cowards.

10 - 0 Baby, gotta love it. I can't wait to walk through the new library space when Dolan is cutting the ribbon after another uncontested election.

I'm sorry I couldn't hear you all the way up there on your pedestal. You make fun of and instigate the people who think opposite of you and then act EXACTLY like them, way to go champ.

"0 Baby, gotta love it. I can't wait to walk through the new library space when Dolan is cutting the ribbon after another uncontested election....My victory is enormous. I will gloat all I want. Hate? No. Ridicule, yes. You clowns are a pack of cowards."

Such smugness, arrogance. And what's with the fascination with clowns?

"This project is about improving the high school"--NOT.

"Melrose is electing the officials it wants." apparently so

Also, apparently the officials it deserves.

The summations of this poster reveal the underlying arrogance (and concurrent insecurity) of those who feel they must behave this way. Not nice people, that's for sure. And not especially bright either. Whatever is counted as a "win" by these types may or may not have any real value, except in so far as it props up their pathetic need to thump their own chests. Real "proof" is not something they would ever even have the capacity to evaluate in a mature way. Really pathetic.

Due to the inherent cowardice of most of the politicians currently holding office here, this project will get swept along without the appropriate oversight it should have had from the beginning but clearly didn't. There will be lots more gloating while the real issues get shoved under that stained torn rug in the current resource center. At some point the real issues will continue to bubble up no matter how hard they are suppressed. Meanwhile a lot of Melrose kids are suffering the consequences of the perennial neglect that their community continues to allow and in fact support. This $5.3 million will create something that at least for a while may look nice and keep more of the chest-thumpers very busy impressing each other.

And Melrose kids will continue getting the same second class education they've been getting for the past fifteen years.

2nd-class education is far too kind.

Couldn't have said it better myself. This clown is obsessed with mocking people who chose to share their opinion and views on this board. It is very odd, I really do wonder if it is Mike or another in the corner office sometimes. No one is interested in your bets or challenges, give it a rest. We will continue to share our thoughts whether you like it or not.

You could be right, but whoever this fool is, he is absolutely typical of the attitude displayed by the Doughboy and his henchmen. They wouldn't know gracious if it walked up behind them and bit them on the a$$. And you are also right that despite the venom and bad behavior displayed by this bunch, it most certainly will not stop those with differing opinions from expressing them, unless some tyrant like that thing running the SC comes up with some plan to actual silence any dissent. Melrose is now Everett. Yhanks a lot , Doughboy.

And you of course are so classy and above it all by calling our Mayor Doughboy. Why don't you practice what you preach?

I decided to practice what he preaches instead.

Nothing makes me happier than to see the Melrose Messages crowd, who specializes in libel, slander and half truths directed at City employees and volunteers, cry foul about name calling. The biggest pack of cowardly hypocrites in Melrose. 11 - 0 last night. Not a single person in the audience showed up to oppose the order. Full steam ahead on the resource center renovation. Children of Melrose Public Schools win...Melrose Messages whiners lose, again. See you clowns at the ribbon cutting.

On and on and on about "libel, slander, and half truths," yet not once have you repudiated a claim with anything substantive. I don't even care much about this high school renovation; does seem like a high price tag for something that isn't a real issue at our schools, but I'm really not that passionate about it. You must be one of the jocksniffers or parents who kisses RD's ass only for him to make cruel jokes about you behind your back. I pity people like you. If nothing makes you happier than local politics, name calling, and gloating over a municipal decision, you are in desperate need of a life overhaul.

Yup. Now they have a nice new resource center to get their second class education in.

12 - 0, why would the winners bother repudiating anything the losers have to say. The Attorney Generals office, the elected body of the Board of Alderman & School Committee, and the public at large have already told the whiners that you have your heads firmly implanted up your @sses. Your crowd is ofer. The only thing you clowns could win is a losers contest. Winners write history, losers suck wind, and the cowards of Melrose Messages can't even get a single person to show up in the alderman's chamber to make their case. Don't pity the people like me, go look in the mirror and ask yourself why you and your friends don't have the b@lls to publicly advocate your position...pity that. You guys are called out and ridiculed. Big election coming up. Grow a pair.

I knew a guy like WInners in high school; a tough guy who talked a big game and thumped his chest a lot. He digs ditches for the DPW now.

He does? How can he see to do that with his face planted in the Doughboy's butt?

Big congratulations to the school committee, the BOA, the Mayor and the residents of Melrose. There really cannot be any complaints about the transparency of this project and the ability of the public to be heard. There were no secrets or backroom deals here; just a well thought out project that got unanimous approval by the BOA. Big win for this awesome city of ours!

I love how the BOA members who fully intended to approve this at the outset (let's all agree it was a done deal at the start) tried to act like they MIGHT not actually approve it without some good answers. It was a nice performance. I am sure that Jackie got very satisfying answers to her "needs" vs "wants" question... otherwise she would never have approved it, right?

I have less of a problem with JLB's questions and eventual vote than with all the bloviating of the majority and complete lack of interest in what these things mean to the taxpayers. JLB made a pragmatic decision since she knew that the majority would vote for approval; no medal of courage there, but realistically, who was there from the community to support her? It's Melrose's fault that the bullies win here and that the minority voices are treated with such open contempt. There was very poor transparency or oversight on this thing very simply because the administration has had a free pass from the voters to do anything RD wants. All the claims of "open process" because "so many" were involved are just bunk. These bums know full well that an open process is a simple matter, and they go to great lengths to avoid it, on everything, because they know they can (so far, maybe not so much from now on though). Those ramming these things through (and at great expense to the taxpayers) will get their reckoning at some point. They are baldfaced political opportunists, and their sincerity is about as thin as their commitment to real accountability to the citizens. Public engagement here is a total farce, and all these dog and pony shows only prove that.

If you are opposed to this and did not show up to any of the hearings and/or did not call your representatives then you only have yourself to blame. Complaining on this site is every bit as effective as it has always been.

"Politics in Melrose" is a typical MM Whiner upset at another loss. The City of Melrose has been on a steady infrastructure improvement plan for well over a decade. Streets, City Parks, Utilities, Playing Fields and Schools have been a main focus of attention from the Dolan Administration after decades of neglect from previous administrations. Well over $50,000,000 of aid has come from the State to help in this effort. The high school has seen a new roof, new HVAC system, New gymnasium and athletic facilities, new science lab, built out open space and the lockers have been painted, and now the resource center is being renovated...these improvements make the high school functional and a good place to go to school, the resource center is just another phase of the overall program...but the whiners hate all that is Melrose and would rather have the kids go to school in a sh*t box to make a political point. The whiners have been predicting the great "reckoning" for over a decade, but they can't even get someone to show up at a board meeting. Don't talk to me about the ballot box...it's a rout every election. You guys are a bunch of cowardly clowns. Come to the ribbon cutting and all 6 of you can pile out of your little clown car and take a look at the improvements over the past 10 years.

Ah.. Maybe the "winnners" (you?) would repudiate the "losers" (us?) because you whine constantly about slander, half truths and libel? I have never asked you to repudiate, I stated that you don't, but that you complain. If you don't want to address issues with facts stop posting here just to name call. I guarantee the pols you so loyally protect on here name call and put you down behind your back, they see you as a lapdog and nothing more. I'm not interested in showing up to a meeting, this nonsense doesn't mean that much to me; I have a life and a job. All of these reasons is why I pity you. I virtually guarantee I am more highly educated than you, make more money, have more power and opportunities, and a higher quality spouse. That is why I pity you. I look forward to irking you on this site. You project constantly that we are ridiculed and embarrassed; no doubt that you obviously had much of that in your life. And for that I am sorry.