Appropriations Committee
Committee Meeting
6/18/2015 7:45 PM
Aldermanic Chamber
City Hall, 1st Floor 562 Main Street Melrose, MA 02176
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Agenda Agenda Packet
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I. Call to Order
1. Roll Call
II. Public Participation
III. Orders
1. ORDER-2015-157 : Order to Place General Override Question on the November 3, 2015 Biennial Election Ballot

ROBERT VAN CAMPEN Melrose, MA 02176
City Solicitor Telephone - 781-979-4184
Updated: 6/15/2015 6:12 PM by Maribeth Harrington Page 1
To: Board of Alderman
From: Robert Van Campen
Meeting Date: June 18, 2015
Subject: Order to Place General Override Question on November 3, 2015 Election
Ballot
Order #: ORDER-2015-157
Ordered, by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Melrose, that in accordance with the
provisions of Chapter 59, Section 21C(g) of the Massachusetts General Laws, the following
question be placed on the ballot and submitted to the voters of Melrose at the November 3,
2015 biennial election:
"Shall the City of Melrose be allowed to assess an additional $2,250,000 in real estate and
personal property taxes for the purposes of funding two additional police officers and
supplementing the operating budget of the public schools for which the monies from this
assessment will be used for the fiscal year beginning July first, two thousand and fifteen?"

There are other significant and damaging measures that will get pushed through tonight unless the public shows up and makes a case against them.

Trash Fee:
Effective January 1, 2016, Any senior citizen (65 years or older) who owns and occupies a single-family home or condominium with an income of $35,00065,870 or less for a single person, ($40,000)changing to:(75,280) or less for married couples, will be eligible for a fifty-percent discount for
this fee.
(b) Effective January 1, 2016 Hardship cases. Any citizen who owns and occupies a single-family home or condominium with an income of $22,00035,000 or less for a single person, from($25,000) changing to(40,000) or less.



And in true Melrose incompetent arrogant fashion, this is what is posted for TODAY's meeting:

"Appendix A
Compensation Summary for FY16
(to be inserted by the Cit of Melrose)
3.5.a
Packet:

NO Compensation Summary posted ("by the Cit[sic] of Melrose") in timely fashion prior to a meeting!!! The height of arrogance and incompetence!

And this BOA allows this every single week, with significant documentation that elected officials are expected to vote on but don't have, sometimes until the meetings themselves! Same thing for SC. Absolutely unacceptable and reflects very precisely the kind of mentality that exists by these contemptuous officials. It's wrong and needs to be fixed. It does NOT require more money to fix these things, either. It requires CARING, ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPECT for the community these officials are supposed to be serving.

Does anyone know if the Alderman will still be receiving GIC Health Insurance? Did we stop this to save money so we can use towards the schools? Just curious about how this was implemented and when. Do they have their own jobs besides this? Will they get retirement pay? Do they work the specific amount of hours to be eligible? Who is documenting this? Sorry NO OVERRIDE! Also this is just a question but do we really need a Library Media Specialist? Thank you

BOA members (and their families!) still receive the GIC, including (retired) Bill Forbes, Tramontozzi (who brazenly uses the MEF to advertise his legal services!), Margolis (if reelected will get it for life), (formerly Seaboyer but he and his wife don't get it now because he didn't serve 10 years) and naturally, Mortimer (who "retired" but still collects and serves, for some ridiculous reason). No, of course they did not work the specified number of hours that any normal employee would have to, but instead got through a convenient loophole (Dolan serves on the GIC committee for the state; furthermore, he overruled a prior vote by the BOA eliminating insurance for members when he needed a quid pro quo for votes to give him his 26% raise last year).

And no, the concept of the elementary LMS is a sacred cow in Melrose amongst a subset of mothers being trained in their talking points by the likes of Driscoll et al. However, it's ridiculous. Many municipalities do not allow each individual elementary school to have their own individual libraries because it's not in any way efficient or sensible or educationally necessary. Some have satellite locations or traveling vans with books that can be transported between schools, with increasing reliance on what can be gotten electronically, though no real educator would ever advocate getting rid of books. With such a small city and a good library, it's ridiculous for each school to be trying to resource their own shelves and send around their trained parrots demanding their precious Library Media Specialists. Good school systems have sensible systems. Melrose is neither good (though it once was) nor sensible.

The list of "wants" for this override will do absolutely nothing to improve education in Melrose. It's a cosmetic list meant to appeal to the zealots and gullible young parents.