 Good evening. Welcome to the select board meeting. Excuse me. If you want to have a conversation, you can definitely go outside. I'm going to start the meeting. Thank you. Good evening. Welcome to the select board meeting of Monday, October 7, 2019. I'm Diane Mahan. To my right is John Herd. Joseph Cuero. Dan Dunn. Steve Decorsi. Adam Chaplin. Doug Heim. Marie Krupalk. The Board Administrator. Thank you. The first item on our agenda is a proclamation for National Chiropractic Health Month. Do we have a representative here for that? Marie, was someone going to come in? She was supposed to be here at 7.15. Maybe I'll just wait and go to consent agenda. Minutes of meetings, September 23, 2019. Request special one-day beer and wine license, 10-13-2019 at Wittemore Robbins House for a private event, Paloma Canas. Request special one-day alcohol license, 10-17-29 at Allington Catholic High School for Allington Food and Drink Festival, Elizabeth Locke, Allington Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director. Request special one-day beer and wine license, 10-19-2019 Robbins Memorial Town Hall for a private event, Lauren Savoy, Rob Hilferty. And a request for a special one-day beer and wine license, 10-26-2019 at Wittemore Robbins House and Park for Sandra Ann Foundation, 2019, Does anyone else have come in yet? Okay. I'll go to appointments. Agenda item 7, Council on Aging. Patricia Ballelou, termed to expire 6-2020-22. Patricia, could you come up? And first, I apologize. I'm sure I didn't get your last name right. If you could just say your name correctly. Thank you. If you want to just speak into the microphone, and we're here for an appointment for the Council on Aging. If there's just a little premier or basic information you'd like to tell to the board and everyone else about your interest on the Council on Aging, what you hope to accomplish? That's fine. I had never been in the senior center until three or four years ago when I started doing taxes there. And I work on the tax program with AARP, and about a year ago I started doing Medicare work. And it's the first time I've really worked with the elderly population and come to understand how important the senior center and all of the services it offers really are to the town and to the population. I actually do taxes with the chairman of the committee, Michael Gross, and I volunteered with another member who went through the training for Medicare at the same time that I did, and talked to them a little bit about it. And I think this is a very exciting time for that group because of all the activity that's going on in the fundraising. And I would like to be part of that and think I could be helpful. Thank you. Is there a motion? Move approval. Seconded by Mr. Hurd. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Thank you very much. I know that Pat has been attending the Council on Aging meetings already, and they're very excited to have you aboard. So thank you very much for stepping up and for volunteering. It's very important. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Any further questions or comments? If not, an emotion by Mr. Curell, seconded by Mr. Hurd. All those in favor say aye. Aye. I suppose unanimous vote. We also have a Human Rights Commission appointment. Crystal Haynes termed to expire 630, 2022. Good evening. Hi. Good evening. How are you? Very well. Thank you. Great. If you could just again, whatever you'd like to tell the Board about your interest in the Human Rights Commission, things you hope to accomplish or what attracted you to come to the Commission to give us your time and expertise. Sure. Absolutely. So I moved to Arlington roughly two years ago with my now husband and his family who are here today. And I found that as I came into the community, there aren't a lot of folks that look like me in this space. And I think it's really important for everyone to have exposure to different cultures. I found that in my own neighborhood, when I spoke with my neighbors and knocked on doors and introduced myself, I found that having that touch point of being able to have a person you can ask questions about their culture, share their cultures. And we celebrate Kwanzaa in my home, which I'm sure is very new to my family. And I think that that was a really important moment where I wanted to be able to share that sort of cultural competency with an entire community. Personally, I work as a journalist. I also am pursuing a master's degree in media advocacy. So diversity and inclusion is what I live and breathe every single day. And I think that it's really important to be the change you want to see in the world. And I intend on raising my children in this community. I intend on being a member of this community. And so I want to make sure that I can give all that I know to this community, but also have them receive a certain level of understanding what diversity and inclusion looks like, especially in 2019. So I'm really excited to work on the Human Rights Commission to get more multicultural events happening in this community and so that we are just become a little bit closer to one another and are able to share one another's stories and ethnic backgrounds. Okay, I'm ready to go with this. I'll just tell you what you want me to do. I'm really excited, not only by your enthusiasm, but certainly your expertise and your life experiences and what Arlington really is all about. So it would be good to have you on there representing. I know you're certainly going to be a force, not to reckon with, but a force in there that's going to get a lot of really good things done. And anything we can do to help you, as we've said to other human rights commissioners, anyone on the board or the board in its entirety is available to you. But I'm really excited. You've got me sold on whatever. I'm excited too. Is there a motion by Mr. Cairo, seconded by Mr. Heard. Any questions or comments, Mr. Dunn? Just as always, the town runs on volunteers and we really appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any further questions or comments on a motion by Mr. Cairo, seconded by Mr. Heard. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. Thank you so much. Thank you. I really can say unanimous. Is the individual here for the Proclamation National Chiropractic Health Month? Okay. We'll go to agenda item nine for approval. I will take a motion to table by Mr. DeCorsi, seconded by Mr. Heard. Council contacted the select board office and asked if we could table this for tonight. But they will be in at a future meeting. Okay. So any further questions or comments on a motion by Mr. DeCorsi, seconded by Mr. Heard. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed. unanimous vote. I'm going to just do one quick item because the manager has to leave us at a time certain. So if my colleagues could indulge me. Agenda item 12, we need to set future select board meetings for the months of November and January for the warrant as well as setting the tax rate. And I'm not sure about the water sewer debt shift. So if everyone could get out there, tell me. Okay. So we're meeting on October 28th. Correct. So how do we look for November? I haven't even gone online. I'm telling anyone else to joke. So November 4th and 18th, why don't we stop there? How does that feel? Should be fine. That is only a week between October meeting. Do you want to do 11 and 25? I don't know. That's right. Okay. So 4 and 18. December. I think we have to meet. Do you want to do the 9th and 16th? Does that work? With the 16th being hopefully the traditional of what we do. And I think that's good for now. Do you want to go into January? No, I was just wondering, just making sure that you really wanted the 9th as opposed to the 2nd. When is our last meeting now in November? The 18th. Okay. So how does, correct. That's better. Does the 2nd and 16th work for everybody? I would only say, if you want to hold the 2nd, that's great, but give me, if you would allow me the opportunity to come back and say that the 9th is necessary for our tax rate setting schedule. Right. I just want to make sure we have that. It has to be by the 9th. Yeah. So we'll say 2 and 16, but it could be combination thereof. Okay. So that's set. So 12 is done. We now have citizens open forum, except in unusual circumstances, any matter presented for consideration of the board shall not be acted upon. Nor decision made the night of the presentation in accordance with the policy under which the open forum was established. It should be noted that there is a three-minute time limit to present a concern or request. I see quite a few people have signed up. You're definitely entitled to the three minutes, but if you hear your point made perhaps two or three times because there are other agenda items on there. And I met with Elizabeth Dray and she made a very good point of something that I assumed just because I know what everybody else knows it, and that's not a correct assumption. If for some reason by choice or because of the amount of time there's more that you wanted to say or entered into the record, please feel free to give that statement or that statement to Mrs. Krupalka and we'll become part of the official record. So first we have Pat Riley. First of all, I wanted to thank you for having me here or allowing me to speak and for everything that you guys do because within my time in Arlington, I have seen all the hard work that you've done. I've been living in Arlington for over 25 years. I like living in Arlington. In that time, this is very short. I have seen our town grow, provide additional services and support to our residents, which I really appreciate. We even have innovative programs that the police department has started on drug addiction. In a past life, I was a lobbyist. Hard to believe since I'm reading this, right? I learned that everything I did in my personal life reflected as my professional life. You know what I mean. I know you do. My driving record, conversations at the coffee shop, anything I ever wrote could be seen as Pat Riley, the lobbyist, not Pat Riley, who lives in the Heights in Arlington. And it reflected as though I had done it in my professional capacity, professional life. I had personal views, and if I wanted to talk about those, I had to be really careful where, how would it be viewed by someone else. And at the time I was working at the state legislature, and you never knew when there was a reporter there. So there's very much of a public persona in the jobs that we do and that you deal with every day. I think this is all why I don't understand what Lieutenant Padrimi's actions did. As an individual, he has absolutely every right to have his personal views. I may not agree with them, but those are his personal views, and he has a right to do that. As a police officer, his personal views will never be seen as anything but a professional life as a police officer. He chose to work as a police officer here in Arlington. Everything he says or writes reflects on us, representing all of us. And writing his personal views in such a public manner surprised me because it reflects on the town, our police department, you, me, the rest of the residents. And I was just surprised when I actually read the article. I have great respect for the police department and those that run it. However, I asked that Lieutenant no longer represent the town that I know and love. And I asked that he no longer represent us in any public forum or capacity. So that's all I had to say, and I really appreciate the time and thank you. Thank you. And I just want to say to the remaining 35 people, which is going to, oh, I didn't think I did that. I'm sorry. I thought I hit the stopwatch. There will be, which the manager and the select board has committed to, a community meeting where you all can come in and we can have this conversation facilitated by an appropriate person with the necessary stockholders, people who really need to be here. In terms of a personal, and I can keep saying this and I'm not trying to be disrespectful. There's no recourse the select board can do regarding any person who's hired, fired, promoted. And I say that with all due respect. And I feel like, you know, by going through this everybody's leaving really frustrated and perhaps not heard as much as they want to. And I'm not trying to use that as an excuse. I'm also a court reporter, but I will say that you're free to come up, but, you know, the individual employee question that is more appropriate at that future community meeting. For us to have a two hour citizens open forum on that, when there's really nothing that we can do, except wait for two hours to get to the remaining hour and a half of our agenda. So if you could kind of bear that in mind, I know the manager is committed to holding that community meeting. We've all had those conversations with him, you know, with an appropriate facilitator, plus other points that was, I haven't seen the petition yet, but of the five points, we've agreed to do four of them, you know, firing that particular individual. This is nothing. It's not back and forth yet. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make it so, you know, two more hours onto this. It's just, it's frustrating for everybody. And we want it that way. So I'm trying to say the group asks for five things you're getting through. The fifth one, firing Padrini. That's really not on the table in this venue. Yes. And I'll leave others to speak to that. So thank you so much. Thank you. Next I have Kim K. Holt. Sorry. My glasses didn't work. Do you want a chair? No, I'm fine. Thank you. I'll stand. Thank you for offering though, Dan. Okay. So I'm Kim K. Holt and hello. And I think most of you know me. I'm not sure if you do see, but I've run youth programs in this town for over 15 years. I think most of you are aware of who I am. And I am here to talk about Lieutenant Padrini and I need to talk here at Select Board. I have not been here for the other meetings. I was actually in the hospital most of the summer. I was in the hospital again, the last Select Board meeting. So I need to speak here. And I need to say first and foremost that it made me so upset I cried for hours when I heard that this group was told they were being divisive. Let me tell you what was divisive. Lieutenant Padrini's writings were divisive and the people on the Arlington list and you read that list who attacked me and attacked other people who were saying this was not okay. And the people who were saying it was not okay were personally viciously attacked on that list. That was divisive. And what's happening in this community is divisive. We are not being divisive. We are asking for healing. And if you haven't read that list and I plan to send you all a long letter by this weekend, I was personally sexually assaulted by the leader in a town, a city outside this state when I was in college. And I reported it and I was so harassed by the police afterwards that I had to flee, take a failing semester in college and go to another state. I have felt relatively safe in this town. I still am a little afraid any time I have to interact with the police although I knew Fred Ryan well. But in any way I was a little afraid any time I interacted with the police. I live in a housing affordable housing building. I have been a spokesperson for a mental illness on the state and federal level. So I'm well identified as that. And people get killed with mental illness by police in this country when they interact with the police. So there's a little bit of fear and I've had a lot of occasion to call the police in recent years. I had a woman living in my building who's very disabled who was being abused very seriously. She now has had her husband removed and restraining order. But that was happening. And the dispatcher often asked like I was causing an issue when I called. The police were generally very nice. So I've had a little bit of fear. After that was there anything? I don't have a little bit of fear. I'm very afraid. I had to call the police several times because of a new neighbor and one time we found out that she was stone cold out, passed out, couldn't be woken up. They had to call an ambulance. They were in and out of my building for hours through my apartment to get to her back door. When I called that night because somebody was ringing her doorbell over and over and over again, it's a small building. And the girlfriend has a husband, the daughter has a husband who's abusive and comes to the door every once in a while and stuff. It's middle of the night. I wasn't going to that door. I'm PTSD. I'm not going to that door in the middle of the night. I called the police. I was very afraid. Very afraid. I was never like that before this training. This is real guys. Thank you. And we're asking for healing. Next we have Esther Kingston man. My name is Esther Kingston man. I lived in Arlington for about 30 years and I really love the town. But I came here to speak tonight. I'm speaking in the name of people of color that I know who feel less safe living out their lives as residents of this town as a result of Officer Padrini's attack on people with addiction problems, the mentally ill immigrants, social justice warriors. And I actually feel this a bit myself personally because at my best I'm a social justice warrior. I appeal to the committee to listen to the people, to the vulnerable people who say they feel threatened. When people say they feel unsafe, I appeal to you to take them seriously. Each person in Arlington who falls into the categories that Padrini viciously describes, specifically these drug addicted people, mentally ill immigrants. Each of these people belong to families, have friends, and all of them can be counted among those who are harmed by the kind of hatred that Officer Padrini expressed. So I'm speaking here tonight for myself partly, but mostly for people I know who have trust issues with the town and who do not speak up publicly for fear of retribution and for their safety. So I and I guess others here ask the town to pay attention to the damages to public trust that Officer Padrini has caused. Thank you. Carrie Thiel. Chair, members of the committee, of the board I should say. Carrie Thiel, 11 Elipi Street. I just wanted to thank you for putting my correspondence on the meeting agenda tonight regarding the traveling animal exhibit issue. I wanted to let you know that I will be here to answer any questions that the board may have. I also want to thank Administrator Caproca, Diana Welch, our fantastic ACO, who I had really productive conversations with. I want to thank several of you who took the time to speak to me personally about this issue, which I'm grateful for. You all know I have deep reservations to this day about a traveling animal exhibit coming to Arlington, animal welfare concerns, public safety concerns, values concerns. But I've tried to find a solution that's forward-looking and that really just acknowledges and hopefully pushes forward our commitment as a town to animal welfare and also gives a space for some legitimate policy issues that are already being addressed by the town. So I'm trying to be constructive. I'm so interested in the town meeting process and I've spoken to Mr. Hyman about that who's been again extremely helpful. So I just wanted to thank you for giving the space and let you know that I'm here tonight if you have any questions. Thank you. Maria Meiser. I'm Maria Meiser. I'd like to speak today in support of having, featuring an animal adoption event at Arlington Town Day instead of the traveling farm animal exhibit. I believe that that is an exploitative demonstration of animals in our community and I'd rather see an event there that demonstrates that our community should be caring for animals, loving animals, supporting them, rescuing them. It should be helping to raise awareness about animal homelessness and I think that that would be much more appropriate and positive for the town of Arlington. And I have been volunteering for animal rescue groups for many years and I've personally volunteered at adoption events so I'd love to support this personally, volunteer, participate in it. So that's all. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to continue on with this list but at some point just because we have two other agenda items that I'm imagining those two people. Bruceie Moulton in the traffic rules and order probably anticipating they have a two hour wait so they'll be pretty short term. So I'm going to take a few more speakers, go to agenda item 10 and 11 and of course they're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting and Citizens Open Forum. I just want to be respectful of their time and again reiterate this is not the community meeting that the manager has committed to in the select board. You know this is Citizens Open Forum to bring issues. I won't say it again because I guess I can't get the message across that. You know the venue that you're seeking with the professionals that we need there and outside consultants is going to happen. So next I think she might have signed up because she didn't realize she's an agenda item but if she wants to speak again she can. Crystal Haynes, I believe she's left. She was a new human rights commissioner. Christine Dorchak. Good evening. Thank you very much for hearing me Madam Chair and members of the board. My name is Christine Dorchak and I live on Lakeview Street. I'm the President and General Counsel of Gray 2K USA Worldwide where a nonprofit organization that works to pass laws to protect greyhounds. I'm not here in my organizational capacity but my professional position is relevant to what I'm here to say tonight. In 2008 my organization passed a ballot measure called the Greyhound Protection Act. This passed very handily across the state but Arlington in particular had some of the highest numbers of any of the cities or towns across the Commonwealth. It was for this reason and others that we chose to move our organization to Arlington several years ago. It's with that understanding that there are humane minded people who care about animals that I think you need to really think hard about bringing animal praise back to Town Day or any other event here in Arlington. This is an organization that has failed inspections. This is an organization that has been thrown out of another city for animal cruelty violations. This is not a good actor. In fact I understand in its own application to you it represented that it was USDA certified. I'm an animal protection attorney. I can tell you there is no such designation. So given the misleading conduct of this organization I strongly urge you not to bring them back for any other events. And also I'd like to point out one other issue which probably hasn't been brought up yet but there's a liability issue. If someone is hurt by one of these animals or an interaction with one of these employees who some of them have been just charged for misconduct according to the record. There's liability that will be part of the Arlington come into our neighborhood will have legal expenses embarrassment and this is not something we want. So I would like to join with the other speakers in urging this board to please don't bring back animal craze. Let's consider a humane alternative and let's not turn a blind eye to the cruelty and corruption of animal craze. Thank you for hearing my points tonight. Thank you. Excuse me Lynette Martin. Good evening. My name is Lynette Martin 18 Eustis Street. This week marks the one year anniversary of the publication of Lieutenant Padrini's hate speech. We are here today to formally submit our petition asking the town to develop and announce a plan for repairing community trust by November 1st. We will continue to collect signatures until that date but as of now we have over 1000 signatures including over 15% of Arlington's town meeting members and well over two dozen respected social justice organizations. It has been one month since the residents first came to these chambers to express our concerns about the town's accountability in this case. During that meeting Mr. Dunn assured us that the CBI report was just the first step. Mr. Herd expressed his surprise that you all had not heard from us sooner. Miss Mahon and others emphasize that they could not address this personnel matter in these chambers even as you placed it on your own agenda and proceeded to express full confidence in the town manager's handling of the case thus far. Despite the serious reservations citizens brought to this very room it has been three weeks since the CBI report came out and there has been no commentary whatsoever from town leadership regarding the report or next steps. It has been one year, one year. Since the racist words were published and no attempt has been made to address the populations that Lieutenant Padrini targeted with his words. Let's move past this forum. Concerned citizens have been provided no other forum but the three minutes each here. We have been provided no avenue for back and forth, no opportunity for town leadership to respond to our feedback or to address accountability issues that have arisen in our well documented concerns. I'll remind the audience that the town manager did not take any part in part of the CBI report discussions. When are he or the board or any town leaders going to address our questions? This week marks one year. The CBI report contains 50 suggestions but fails to prioritize them potentially enabling the town to cherry pick easy asks and ignore the harder ones. Over half of the stakeholders involved in the report prioritized five asks that were not highlighted in the report. The primary ask being that Lieutenant Padrini remain on permanent administrative assignment if termination is demonstrated to not be possible. I've heard several of you ask why aren't we hearing from those targeted in Lieutenant Padrini's articles. You won't hear from these vulnerable people until leadership demonstrates that they're worthy of hearing those voices. I hope you will listen carefully to some of those voices tonight. Many of the people involved in this cause have heard from scared people who don't feel safe going to the police. Who thanked those who've spoken up to say that this isn't right. Who said I don't feel safe coming forward but thanks for being an ally. These residents need to hear from town leadership that Arlington has their back and that they're safe. The town's message has consistently been we want this to go away so we can be perceived as a good place again. Let's get rid of the division. Our message to you today is we don't want to look good. We want to do good and stand by all Arlington citizens. Silence creates division. Action creates healing. Please take action and stand by the side of those who were harmed. Please do not let the heinous words of one police officer ruin the reputation of many Arlington police officers. Thank you. You can submit the rest. We've been doing this a little over half hour so I'm going to take care of the last two remaining items in our agenda and then come back to this. And those two, number 10 and 11, you're more than welcome to stay. I'm going to do what I just said. If I don't have anything on here, I apologize. The agenda item 10 request to sign non-binding resolution in support of an act for utility transition to using renewable energy future act. I'm going to recuse myself from this discussion. I do some work in my professional capacity for national grid. This involves a discussion of natural gas issues. So I'm going to recuse myself and come back after the agenda item. Thank you. I guess I will do the briefing and I'll just一個 quick summary and then sort of the next step after you get the proclamation where you'll be submitting it and what you're hoping it will help generate our support. We are here, as you said, and first of all, I'm here on behalf of Mothers Out Front and the Arlington team of Mothers Out Front and also Sustainable Arlington. And I would just like to ask the Mothers Out Front from the Arlington team who are here to stand up for a moment. This is something that. Thank you for all your activities. I do appreciate it. We all do. And so the Act for Utility Transition to Using Renewable Energy, otherwise known as the Future Act, sponsored by Senator Cynthia Cream and representatives Lori Ehrlich and Christina Minnecuci, and co-sponsored by all three of Arlington State Legislators, Senator Cindy Friedman, representatives Sean Garberley and David Rogers. Massachusetts has the second oldest gas distribution infrastructure in the United States. It is beset with leaks. Those leaks waste consumers' money. We pay for all the lost gas in Massachusetts. Those leaks pollute our air with toxic chemicals that are bad for our health, continually release the greenhouse gas methane, which is a potent driver of climate change, kill nearby trees, and occasionally cause explosions. In Massachusetts, the cost of replacing the oldest, especially leak-prone pipes, runs to billions of dollars. The estimate is about nine billion, I believe. Experience with the new plastic pipe being used to replace old cast iron and steel shows that it breaks more easily. In fact, we've already had some serious gas leaks resulting from the breaking of those plastic pipes. Fixing leaks and replacing gas lines takes a lot of time, costs a lot of money, and you're still left with a system that will continue to leak. There is no way that you can have all those pipes coupled together and not have leaks. That system is transporting an explosive product with hazardous contaminants. Right here in Arlington, we can see from the last several years that even with gas leak repairs and some pipe replacement, the number of gas leaks has increased from 177 in 2016 to 313 this year. Those are just the leaks that National Grid has reported. We know from research that there are more. The situation is similar across the state wherever there is gas distribution infrastructure. To quote Lori Ehrlich, one of the Future Act sponsors, it makes no sense to keep burning an explosive gas in our homes when it is putting both us and the climate in danger. The Future Act was written to respond in the short term to the dangers of living with gas and in the longer term to move everyone in our state, including the gas utilities off gas and onto renewable sources of energy. The Future Act provides for triage and transition. Triage in the short term strengthens safety standards for existing gas lines and regulations for identifying responding to gas leaks. Education is creating a path for gas utilities in Massachusetts to move away from selling gas and to selling alternative renewable energy sources. The Future Act provides support for municipalities as well as for the gas utility industry. We know they're an important player in our state economy. The goal is not to kneecap them but to help them move to the future. If passed, the Future Act would make Massachusetts the first state with a roadmap for gas utilities to make this kind of change to renewable energy. The technologies already exist to make this possible. Geothermal microgrids can provide heating and cooling for local networks of buildings, residential, commercial, and industrial. And in fact, the gas leaks allies, we're very fortunate to have a member of the Gas Leaks allies at Wall here tonight who's been part of writing the legislation. The Gas Leaks allies are hosting a technical event at Boston University on October 28th. The all day event for 150 people will be deeply technical in nature. It will include people from formerly in the gas and oil industry who have figured out that drilling for geothermal heat makes a lot of sense. And they have installed some of these geothermal microgrids in their up and functioning. They're going to be on hand to talk about that. In the evening, there'll be a larger event also at Boston University for 300 people. I look forward to extending invitations. So Massachusetts communities that have already signed a resolution in support of the Future Act include Brookline, Cambridge, Lincoln, Newton, and Somerville. Other communities in the process of considering such a resolution include Acton, Boston, Hopkinson, Wellesley, Wealthy, and Worcester. It is my hope that I haven't gone into the specific supports for municipalities. It includes rapid informing of the local police chief as soon as leaks are found and expedited schedule for repairing leaks, more winter patrols of pipelines under our streets because the freezing of the ground causes the pipes to shift and increases the potential for leaks. It offers the communities greater ease in getting paid back for the loss of street trees that die from gas leaks and so forth. There are a number of advantages for municipalities and they are laid out in one of the attachments that you received with the resolution. So it is my hope that in coming before you tonight that you will be able to sign this resolution in this non-binding resolution in support of the principles of the Future Act. If you have any questions, Mr. Wall would be glad to address. If you have technical questions that I can't answer, Mr. Wall would be glad to answer them for you. Thank you. Is there a motion? I move approval of the resolution as presented by me. Seconded by Mr. Heard. With tradition we read into the record our proclamations and I know it's a little bit voluminous but I also know mothers out front and your members have put a lot of months, if not years, into what's contained in the proclamation so I'm going to read it into the record. Resolution in support of Massachusetts House Bill 2849, Massachusetts Senate Bill 1940, an act for utility transition to using renewable energy, the Future Act. Whereas the select board of the town of Allington committed in 2010 to preparing for the impact of climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth by the year 2050 to at least 80% of the 1990 level as required by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008 and whereas the town of Allington has joined the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition adopting its goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and whereas the town of Allington has constituted the Clean Energy Future Committee under the direction of the town energy manager to guide the town in achieving its net zero by 2050 goal and whereas the town of Allington participates in the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Program to prepare for and become resilient in the face of local impacts of climate change and whereas the Allington Select Board has resolved to support the earlier Gas Consumer Cost Protection Bill House 2870 by vote in 2015 and whereas the town of Allington has one of the older natural gas infrastructures in the Commonwealth with hundreds of gas leaks beneath its streets leaking methane into the atmosphere and whereas gas leaks contain 95% methane a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, sorry, whereas methane from gas leaks damages or kills Allington's street trees, trees which improve the quality of life of Allington's residents, provide protection for the town residents against extreme heat and storm water flooding and increase property values in the town property tax base, whereas the town of Allington has already submitted several claims to the Gas Utility National Grid for the loss of public trees that have died as the result of leaking gas distribution lines and whereas the town of Allington can reasonably expect to submit additional such claims for public trees killed by gas leaks and whereas an aging fracked gas infrastructure poses serious health and safety risks as evidenced by the explosions in the Merrimack Valley in September of 2018, whereas the September 13, 2019 report rolling the dice assessment of the Gas System Safety in Massachusetts written by Bob Ackley, Molly Fairchild, Sarah Griffith, Nathan Phillips, PhD, and Regina LaRocque, MD, MPH, GasLeaksAllies.org identifies, quote, multiple problems and hazards and continuing to rely on an explosive gas as an energy source as well as the Commonwealth's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically over the coming decades and makes over 50 recommendations towards a strategy of triage and transition. Triage reduced short-term risks to safety, health, and property by enhancing statewide gas leak classification standards and prioritizing the largest and most hazardous leaks for repair, not pipe replacement. Transition eliminate long-term risks intrinsic to alliance on a combustible gas by deploying a managed transition to cleaner, safer, and more cost-effective heating and cooling solutions. And whereas the GasLeaksAllies reported its legislative mandates for transitions supports the Future Act as described below and as an effective means for moving the Commonwealth away from fossil fuels, including natural gas, and whereas gas companies have not significantly reduced the number of gas leaks in the volume of methane emissions since the passage of Chapter 149 of the Acts of 2014, an act relative to natural gas leaks requiring them to classify and repair leaks and rate payers still pay for the lost gas, whereas House 2849 Senate 1940 and Act for Utility Transitions, a usable renewable energy Future Acts focuses on the problems with the distribution of natural gas in the Commonwealth addressing not only the crumbling infrastructure and immediate safety concerns, but also creating a path forward by avoiding future stranded assets and permitting gas companies to distribute renewable thermal energy, including solar and geothermal instead of explosive fossil fuel, and whereas the Future Act will empower municipalities to have stronger safer, more transparent working relationships with the gas companies by improving coordination for gas leak repairs and strengthening safety standards, mandating that the gas companies notify the local fire and fire chief and police department within an hour of finding a dangerous leak requiring that the gas companies and the Department of Public Utilities share maps, costs, and plans with municipalities in the public and requiring that gas companies be audited annually for safety performance and leak reports, whereas the Future Act I'm going to stop that again, whereas the Future Act will mandate that gas leaks within a specified distance of a school zone or building or within the root zone of a tree be fixed within six months, and whereas the Future Act will give municipalities an effective voice in proceedings before the Department of Public Utilities by permitting municipalities to participate in adjudicatory hearings related to their service areas and allowing individuals and municipalities to pursue remedies within the DPU as an alternative to the courts for claim for property damage incurred during which gas company road work as well as damage to trees from gas leaks, and whereas the Future Act will authorize municipalities to procure local or district energy services and to establish an energy micro grid, and whereas the Future Act's legislative co-sponsors include Senator Cindy F. Freedman and representatives Sean Gobley and Dave Rogers, now therefore be it resolved that the Allington Select Board go on record in strong support of the principles embodied in the Future Act, House 2849 Senate 1940, and urge the legislature to pass the bill during the 2019-2020 session and be it further resolved that the Town Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward suitably and gross copies of this resolution to members of Allington's legislative delegation as well as to the House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Karen Spilker and Governor Charlie Baker on behalf of the Allington Select Board, signed by myself, Vice Chair Dan Dunn, Mr. Joseph Cairo and Mr. John Hurd with Mr. DeCorsi recusing himself. So an emotion by Mr. Cairo, seconded by Mr. Hurd and Mr. Dunn. I just want to say that in general I think that we should be treading lightly on what to endorse and what not to endorse, particularly when it comes to like some things related to specific town policies and procedures or the way the town should be running itself, those I have absolutely no problem weighing in all the time. This one is obviously farther out from that, but I'm comfortable supporting this one specifically because of the endorsement of a town meeting of very similar ideas. And I just wanted to be really clear what my rationale was for supporting this because there are other ones that people will say, hey Dan, you should support this in a Select Board meeting and I'm going to say no, but this particular one, I can see a very direct line from town meeting to this vote and that's why I'm happy to support it. Thank you. Mr. Cairo? Thank you very much. I think your point is well taken, Mr. Dunn, but I think as this is laid out before us, we're supporting the principles of the Future Act and I don't think any of us are expected to pass a quiz on every single line that's within the act. The resolution itself is pretty long. I appreciate the indulgence in putting this off for two weeks so that we could read the informational materials you pass us. I feel very comfortable with this on a number of levels. I mean, yes, town meetings pass things. We actually, this board, when the president pulled us out of Paris, we endorsed the We Are Still In campaign as a board to say that we were committed to the goals of the Paris Accord. I think it's consistent with that. And the successful partnerships we've had with mothers out front, we really appreciate it. I know that we've gone on record with some of the previous gas leaks proposals you brought forward to us around gas leaks. We also took some difficult decisions around ensuring the safety here during the National Grid Lockout and in the wake of the explosions up in the Merrimack Valley. I can say that I personally also appreciate your partnership. I've gone out with my daughter helping with your tagging project. So I think that's a great service to the town. You know, one of the things that's attractive here, I think for our board, New York City does provide some, if this legislation has to pass, provide some level of additional control for the municipality. I think it's something that we've all struggled with with the regulated monopolies of the power utilities, whether it's the gas company or the electric company. We struggle with double poles here. It's been very difficult for us to find levers for the local community to actually exercise some kind of sovereignty there. So I appreciate you bringing it forward. I appreciate all the work. I appreciate all the members of Mothers Out Front coming out to support you here. So thank you very much for bringing that forward. Oh, and I didn't mention our partnership on the CCA, but that's the electrical side of the ledger, right? Well, it all ties together in fighting climate change. So thank you. Just thank you for your work on this. This is amazing to bring this forward. It's such an important issue, and all the work that you and your organization does outside of just this one specific piece of legislation, it's getting to the point where you can't work around Islington, I don't think, and smell gas at some point, and we want to make sure that we're not, we don't get acclimated to it, and it gets put in the back, on the back burner. So it's good to know that you guys are out there continuing to fight for this. So thank you. Okay. On a motion by Mr. Currow, seconded by Mr. Hurd. Any further questions or comments? If not, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed, unanimous vote. Thank you again so much. You're very welcome. I'm going to leave some flyers about the rolling the dice assessment of gas system safety report. I know you that there's a mention in that in the cover letter. On the back, there's information about a gas form being held in Wellesley on October 24th that includes Representative Murray-Ehrlich, Representative Alice Peish, and Dr. Nathan Phillips, who's the lead author on the report. Thank you, Bruce. Thank you, everyone. Now we'll go to the last agenda item 11 for approval, traffic rules and orders. I'm not sure if we have someone here from TAC to speak to this or Mrs. Kruppalka or Attorney Heim. Who's going to speak under, were you going to speak under traffic rules and orders? Yes. Oh, okay. Paul Schlichman precinct. How many member precinct nine? The resident of 47 Mystic Street. Our condo association submitted correspondence the select board in June regarding this recurring problem with the lack of access in and out of Chestnut Terrace. Not only do we share that exit, it's also shared by Chestnut Manor, which has frequent use for emergency vehicles. And the intersection of Chestnut Street and Chestnut Terrace as well as the municipal parking lot is consistently blocked. It's impossible to get out of the street most days, even midday Saturday. And I saw the recommendation in your packet. We wholeheartedly are appreciative of the board, the TAC officer, Cory, and the work that you've done to implement this. Thank you. Thank you. Attorney Heim. Madam Chair, if you'd like, you have three separate recommendations from TAC based on three different requests. Each one of them has a fairly straightforward memo recommending a specific vote for action. I think if the board is so inclined that it increase with all the votes, you could take a single vote or if you feel like it's important to break them out by each individual recommendation. I think you can certainly do that. Is it okay if I take all three requests as a single motion? Or should we do them separately? All three together? So that's for approval, move no parking signs here to corner sign Broadway at Rosson Road. Second, stop signs on Washington Street at Candia Street and Crawford Street. Third, do not block intersection sign Chestnut Street at Chestnut Terrace as submitted by officer Cory Roteau of our traffic and parking unit. Is there a motion to approve by Mr. Dunn? Seconded by Mr. Currow. Seeing no one else here to speak to it. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? If not on a motion by Mr. Dunn. Seconded by Mr. Currow. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed unanimous vote. Thank you so much. We'll go back to Citizens Open Forum. Reverend Chalene Pocrus. I apologize if I'm not saying names correctly. Hi. Chalene Pocrus, 51 Crosby Street. I'm actually going to finish Lynette. Oh, sorry. Yep. I'm actually going to finish what Lynette Martin was saying because she ran out of time. So she had asked that we please take action and stand on the side of those harmed and not take the words of one police officer to let them ruin the reputation of the many fine police officers. Lynette would like everyone to know she was at coffee with a cop last week and one of the officers asked if she was prejudiced against all of our officers. For example, if the crimes of one doctor would keep her from returning to all doctors to get treatment. And I'll switch to Lynette's words now. My response was that absolutely not. I would continue to trust doctors. I would certainly not return to a medical practice that let one individual doctor who committed a crime keep his license. I would not return to the practice if they let this doctor return to treating patients whom the doctor expressed a hatred toward. If, however, the medical practice named the doctor's crime, censured that doctor and either fired him or guaranteed targeted patients would never have to interact with that doctor again, then I would respect the organization for their strong stance and support them for their bravery. Please take action and stand on the side of those who were harmed and do not let the words of one police officer ruin the reputation of many fine officers in Arlington. I would also like to read the words of someone who could not be here tonight, because as we've stated, there are a lot of people in the community who don't feel safe adding their voices to the chorus of voices you've been hearing from. This is from a transgender person and her name is Aisha, and she wrote, Good morning, Laura. Thanks for thinking of me. I'm actually working late today, and I'd appreciate it if you would read the below at the meeting. I live on Lake Street in Arlington. I'm a transgender activist and exactly the kind of person Rick Padrini had in mind when he wrote his screed advocating that police meet violence with violence. This kind of language bears striking similarity to the rash of manifestos written by disaffected white men who have carried out mass shootings in the last several years. Knowing he still has a job with the Arlington police force is a slap in the face, a clear statement that the Arlington leadership is more concerned about pandering to the thin blue line than protecting the citizens that men like Padrini have called to harm. The fact that he was reinstated using restorative justice circle in quotes is a total perversion of a system that activists have been working on for decades. The initial role of the AHRC in Padrini's reinstatement was has delegitimized the Human Rights Commission. The restorative justice process in Arlington and the Arlington town manager, it has also established that I cannot trust any of the town's governing bodies because they have demonstrated a willful disregard for my safety and humanity. And just ask everyone to keep in mind this is from a transgender person in our community. If the goal of this town is to reestablish trust in the community, then the first step must be to permanently remove Rick Padrini from the police force. A police in a government committed to equity and justice will accept nothing less. Thank you. Lynette Culver House. Sorry, Lynette Culver House. Getting stuck on my words. Hi, my name is Lynette Culver House. I live on Draper Ave. I've been an Arlington resident since 1984. And, you know, I really hope that you've been grappling with this issue as deeply as we have. I want to tell you where we're coming from because from some of the comments we have heard from town leaders, we are being labeled as divisive. But in fact, we have been nothing but respectful in all our attempts to communicate the urgency we feel to you and other town leaders. Please understand that people become angry when an injustice has occurred. It is not divisive to express anger. Rather, it is a plea to be heard. What becomes divisive is when the voices expressing opposition or outrage are silenced or pushed aside or otherwise labeled in a negative way. You are sitting in a seat of power. I'm afraid I'm feeling like the people in power in Arlington are more concerned with avoiding being vulnerable along with the rest of us by not admitting mistakes or sincerely seeking to work with us to set things right. Decisions have been made and conversations have been had behind closed doors. We have an openly racist police officer in the heart of our town which must surely taint the reputation of not only the APD, but also the town leadership. And we are supposed to accept that a very inadequate letter of apology is enough to get back to business as usual. We are left in the dark about what restorative therapy or steps are being taken to address Padrini's particular brand of hate and anger. Who are you leaders protecting? Padrini and his family? Yourselves? An image? Or are you able and willing to step out of your comfort zone and become a voice with your fellow citizens for justice and integrity by standing for and addressing the concerns of all citizens? Strong leadership demands that each person speak up when an injustice occurs. It is not about standing together or defending your position when your leadership comes into question. It is about having the courage to speak up for what you truly believe is morally right no matter what position your fellow leaders are taking. We need to hear from you publicly as individuals in order to regain our trust in your leadership. We teach our children how not to be bystander when bullying occurs. Racism and hate towards people for belonging to a particular group is a systemic form of bullying. We are seeing it at the highest echelons of our government so little wonder that we are seeing it here. Facing our own biases and racism is hard work but an essential piece of work that each person in particular those in leadership needs to do in order to achieve justice and embrace the values this town claims to stand for. Thank you. Not only Padrini and the police force. I'm sorry, you could submit the rest of your statement to Mrs. Kruppelka because we have probably 39 more people. I just want to be respectful of everyone else. We are sincerely seeking to do the right thing for our community. I would like to see you do that. Thank you. Thank you. I'll read it right again that this select board oversight over the town manager, the board administrator, and the comptroller. And that's where our oversight in terms of promotion to motion, hiring, lies. Next we have Lenard Diggins. Len. And there will be a community forum. So I can't say that enough. Hi. So a couple weeks ago I was here to tell you all about the brainstorming session that we had for trying to get precinct meetings. It happened on the second and it was a really good turnout. We had about 40, 50 people turn out most of the town meeting members and there was lots of enthusiasm for doing the spring, I'm sorry, the fall precinct meetings with the goal being to do these twice a year forever. And so we're trying to have them between now and Thanksgiving. So far we have five precincts that are organized. One, three, and five are going to have their meeting on the 28th from 630 to eight at the Thompson School. And precincts 12 and 14 are going to have theirs on November 6th at the Brackett School. Once again, excuse me, from 630 to eight o'clock. What we're trying to do is get venues that are free and so we can get the schools until eight o'clock and on days when the custodians are there. So I'm here letting people who are watching know about that. We're in the process of organizing or trying to get the other precincts to organize. And so I'm also asking you all to help out as you can. And you're certainly welcome to attend any of the meetings because as we know probably very few people could tell you one or two names of their town meeting members. But I'll bet two that they probably could name more than one or two select board members. So it would be good for us to just get out there and interact with people. The theme pretty much for the fall meetings are going to be how government works. And letting people know of how town meeting works, meaning how they can become a town meeting member, how to get an article on the warrant. So this may be a long haul to get to the point where people really are expecting these meetings to happen. But I got a few years left. So I'm going to keep pushing this. I just also want to say that I may be the face of this, but it wouldn't work if it weren't for the existence of Envision Arlington. They are the structure that is really helping facilitate this. And I can't say enough good things about Julie Brazil. And I mean her energy level is just something else. And so I want to thank her for all her support on this. So thanks. Thanks, Lynn. Reverend Marta Flanigan. Greetings. I'm Marta Flanigan. I have written the select board and I've met with Adam. And I've been grateful and very impressed with those of you who have responded. Thank you. The congregation I have served these last 10 years is one of the most active in town. First Parish is self-supporting and self-governing. It runs much like town meeting. It is cumbersome. There is dissent. There are multiple interests and worthy concerns. You know the drill. The elected governing board of First Parish voted to sign the petition that you are receiving tonight. They voted unanimously. That means something. I'm here as a religious person. I traverse the world of confession and repentance, of forgiveness and repair. Here is what I know. Forgiveness requires at least three things. When we have done wrong, we need to hear the other out. We need to come to an understanding of the damage that we have done. That's first. The second is that we need to acknowledge the damage that our words or our deeds have done. And thirdly, we need to engage in some reparational act. I do not make light of what Lieutenant Richard Padrini wrote. He spoke of maggot criminals. He wrote, it's time we forget about restraint, measured responses, procedural justice, deescalation, stigma reduction, and other feel good BS. Let's meet violence with violence and get the job done. Since he posted those words and worse, Lieutenant Padrini has listened to a few people in a closed restorative justice process. Then he wrote a letter that did not convey enough understanding of the harm caused by his words. And he has yet to engage in actions that repair the damage done. This is reason enough to restrict his work as a police officer. But the matter has grown larger than one officer. You and I are leaders in our town, and we are implicated in this as well. In the last year, we have not listened enough or in enough venues to those harmed by his words. We have not done enough to acknowledge the damage done. Expressing exasperation and word or facial expression when people speak does not help heal the wound. And we have not engaged in enough actions to repair what has been done. Thank you, Reverend. Appreciate it. I just have to be respectful of everyone else's time. Next we have Laura Kiesel. Would you like a chair? I'll be okay for just a couple minutes. Laura Kiesel 260 Massachusetts Avenue. My stepfather used to beat me regularly when I was a child for years. But this ended one day when I was eight when my maternal uncle, my godfather, found out about the beatings and put an abrupt end to the abuse. My uncle was my hero, but according to Badrini, because my uncle was someone who also struggled with substance abuse disorder, he was nothing more than a maggot. It was an officer who also undoubtedly shared this same mindset who beat my uncle so brutally upon his arrest that he had to be hospitalized and require surgery. My uncle was incarcerated afterwards and would be released five years later, broken, and forever changed until he died a year later in our home of a fatal overdose. And yet, when I met with the town manager in early March, after he announced restorative justice for Badrini, he said he was not even aware that Badrini's columns targeted those with addiction. That the town manager could not be bothered to read the columns in their entirety before proposing a so-called solution has made it clear the very priorities of the town leadership, and it is not the vulnerable people without power. In Chapter Lane's open letter to the town, there was no mention of anyone in the restorative circles from the addiction community or their loved ones, nor did any of the anti-biased trainings he listed include anything that addressed addiction, disability, or mental illness, all populations targeted by Badrini's hate speech and who comprised the bulk of those imprisoned and victimized by police violence in our nation. Yet, this board unanimously voted to fully endorse Mr. Chapter Lane's handling of this matter, and by extension his disregard for and exclusion of those of us whose lives and families have been destroyed by not just addiction but more so by the racist and classist drug war that continues to this day and is encapsulated by Badrini's position. It is a drug war that usually doesn't target suburban middle-class whites that are now disproportionately impacted by our current opioid epidemic. Poor people like my uncle and especially poor people of color are not those extended empathy or understanding when they suffer the same affliction as was painfully illustrated by this case. Up until only a few weeks ago, Lieutenant Badrini still liked and advertised pages on his personal Facebook page that mocked and degraded addicts and applauded police brutality against them. I know because I spent an hour looking through these pages. Whether or not Badrini acts on his words or beliefs, he will likely have influenced and emboldened other officers who will take it upon themselves to assault or kill someone else's brother, father, or uncle. More will now die of overdoses due to a valid fear that stops them from seeking assistance with the APD or other resources through the town, and the town's leadership is complicit in this. Thank you. Mary Rosoni. Mary Rosoni, please. We still have about another 28 people, so. I am Mary Rosoni. Mary Fusoni. I'm sorry, I said Rosoni. I've inside of your time yet. Mary Fusoni. Okay. I am here today to read a letter from another town resident, and I'll let that person explain in the letter why they are not here. I'll read half the letter, and my husband will read the rest. I am writing this letter anonymously because I am not prepared to publicly state my name and address in front of a television camera or a news reporter. I am not prepared to make a target of my family for the less stable Badrini supporters in our community to attack. Over the years we have repeatedly seen that there are people in our town who have no hesitation in targeting minorities for abuse, be it through online harassment or terrorizing us in our schools and homes. This town is small enough that we don't need to use all six degrees to find anyone. As a longtime African-American resident of Arlington, I have closely watched how the town leadership has conducted itself regarding the Badrini matter. What I am left with is the grudging belief that you have neither the inclination nor the ability to protect my family where I to step forward. And so I don't. Simply, the people of color in this community won't speak out because we don't think we will receive anything beyond reassuring noises, more talk about bringing the community together to heal at a cost too steep to bear. Mr. Kuro, you spoke quite passionately about how angry you feel, angry that a person of authority and influence, quote, saw fit to so sully the uniform of the APD. Well, sir, I too am angry, but I am angry because I am afraid, which is something beyond simple indignation. This fear is something that I am forced to feel every day in my bones while still having to live in my skin. The fear that the racist members of Arlington have been further empowered by this man's words at a time when our climate is more dangerous than ever for people like me. Mr. Kuro, you spoke at length about what you are not allowed to do. I ask you to speak now what will you and the select board do to make Arlington a safe place for people like me to call home. Select Chair, you spoke of the deep frustration you feel, particularly for a group of people whose actions you find, quote, divisive. I too wish to express my frustrations because language like that which you employed is materially responsible for people of color not feeling safe enough to speak out. It is precisely the kind of response we expect from white people unwilling to face difficult truths like systemic racism, coded violence, microaggressions, and white privilege. This group of people that you would shame and deride, I hold up to praise for their acts of conscience, their willingness to place themselves in the line of fire before me as true allies will do. These people are the best tool in your arsenal for getting to the point you say you want, moving past this. So I ask, how will you act now to show yourself an ally for the people of color in this community? Thank you. I've given you a little more time actually, so thank you. Stanley Pollock? Hi, I'm Stanley Pollock and I live in 94 Grandview Road, Arlington, and I'm going to finish the letter that my wife began. Town manager, I really feel for you that you found yourself thrust so sudden and unwillingly into a position no one would wish for, that of tackling overt white supremacy from a town employee in a position of trust and power. You attempted to act quickly in a manner you felt would best protect the town for which you are to be commended. Unfortunately, your decision to prioritize the possible anger of one white man effectively dismissed the very real and justified concerns of thousands of people of color and their allies in and around our town. Worse still is that I expected nothing else. I expected you to fail us because it is so rare that anyone answers such a question the right way the first time. Sadly for all of us, the second time is usually the result of a far more tragic event. Let us all help hope your prior decisions do not lead us to it. The choice before you now is how to redress past harms so that all of us feel we can move forward. I offer this suggestion for you. The first step to solving any problem is admitting that you have one. You cannot heal an illness you will not name. Your condemnation for the lieutenant's words you've made plain but I have yet to hear you call it what it is in any public manner. That makes me mistrust your sincerity. Through my lifelong exposure to racist thoughts and racist acts I have been forced to learn many things. Chief among them is this. No racist will speak their mind freely and openly unless they first believe themselves in a place where their words will be welcomed. Whether or not the lieutenant believes the words he wrote is irrelevant. The fact remains that he did so because he believed others would accept them, not chide him for them. His words were written for those who believe them. Thirteen years ago the FBI issued a warning about the infiltration of white supremacist groups and police departments across the nation to which African Americans responded, tell us something we don't know. The question before the town is not if there are any white supremacists in the APD but how many? Is this a case of one bad apple as many would like to believe or is it the fruit of the poisoned tree? This may feel harsh to you but that is the source of the fear in my bones. That like mice, that one you see hides the dozens more you don't. Dealing with that question honestly in an open and public manner is necessary to healing our community so dearly needs. Please for all our sakes move past your fears of calling the racist things people say and do racist and we will follow you. Show us that the lieutenant is no longer a threat to our community, is generally reformed and not just passing lip service. Adopt the civilian review board, seek full bias evaluation and remediation from outside, unaffiliated resources that are run by people of marginalized communities and above all stop using words that leave people of color feeling locked out of the conversation. There are many resources out there to help you several of whom now sit before you in this room. Yours in love and peace. Thank you. And I'll just reiterate with the petition of the five requests all for the select board town manager have committed to doing and taking actions to do that. So Eli, Ally Gurzon. Madam Chair, may I? Yes. Just a note for the audience, folks are allowed to record anything they want but the open meeting law requires that before folks start recording. I know it seems silly because we're on ACMI but when you're going to record something and you've got a right to do it, just please let the chair know so the chair can inform the audience that folks are being video recorded. I know it sounds a little bit silly but it's something that the open meeting law request that we do. And I'll take that. Mr. Trinneheim pointed out. Thank you. Okay, you ready? Ready? I'm going to start. Sorry. My name is Eli Gurzon. I live on Massav in East Arlington. I'm going to read from an article from the Disability Policy Consortium. People with disabilities are no exception to this, susceptible to police violence. In fact, a 2016 report by the Ruderman Family Foundation found that although people with disabilities make up between 15 and 20% of all Americans, they account for up to half of all those killed by police. Within the disability community, people with mental health diagnosis and development disabilities are some of the groups at highest risk of being injured or killed by police officers. In 2018, at least 21% of all people killed by police had a mental health diagnosis of some kind. There have also been a troubling large number of incidents in which deaf people have been killed by police as in the 2017 death of Madigal Sanchez in Oklahoma City. These deaths are tragic, upsetting, and very often completely needless. The result of officers acting aggressively and without proper training, the way police departments interact with people with disabilities needs to change. Here in Massachusetts, we've seen progress on this front, but also some worrying setbacks. Last year, 180 Massachusetts police chiefs pledged to have their officers take mental health first aid training. And more than 17,000 officers have received training from the NAMI, Massachusetts on Mental Health. Despite this, however, concerning issues continue to rise. Like last year, 25-year-old Anthony Calabro, who had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, was shot and killed by police. And 21-year-old Harvard student, Solom O'Henne, was tackled and punched repeatedly by Cambridge police while apparently experiencing mental health crisis. Meanwhile, while many departments have expressed support for changing practices related to mental health and disability, not everyone within law enforcement feels this way. Last month, the town of Arlington allowed Lieutenant Rick Pedrini, who is still an executive board member of the Massachusetts Police Association, to return to work. He had been put on administrative suspension after writing a series of indicative columns in which he said, referring to the very measures which are taught in mental health trainings for police officers, it's time we forget about restraint, measured responses, procedural justice, de-escalation, stigma reduction, and other feel-good BS. Let's meet violence with violence. This issue is so ugly and so painful that it is tempting to look away. But there have been too many tragedies for any of us to do so. While individual cases can often be difficult to parse, the overall trend is impossible to ignore. When people with disabilities interact with police, they are disproportionately likely to be killed. And for disabled people of color, the risk is particularly frighteningly high. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next we have Beth Milovchuk, after Beth will be Sarah Glover. Hello. Beth Milovchuk, Russell Street, and I'm a town meeting member. Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you. There is a leadership vacuum in Arlington, a moral leadership vacuum that people have stepped up. A select board member mistook force for leadership. We do not know whether this is an anomaly deploying police to public meetings as was revealed in the Freedom of Information Act documents that are posted online. We do not know whether that was an anomaly or a standard operating procedure of the select board and the town manager. We still wait for it to be acknowledged. I would like the remainder of my time to be given to the next person. Thank you. Well, I'm going to actually give you your full three minutes. Okay. And I'm not going to start it yet after Sarah Glover will be Betty Stone. Good evening. Thanks for having this tonight. My name is Sarah Glover. I live at 139 Franklin Street. I've been in Arlington for a little over nine years. I'm embarrassed to say that it was a personal experience that kind of jolted me into action on this issue. Though I'd read everything that was being reported in the paper, I kept thinking that you all would immediately have such a firm stance on any expressions like this that I had nothing to worry about. But then I read Lieutenant Petrini's actual letters and became much more alarmed. He comes very close to advocating that police take the law into their own hands. Recently, I was bicycling past an officer on Mill Street. And before any real thinking kicked in, I immediately became fearful that he found me annoying or possibly worse. I'm a bicyclist and Lieutenant Petrini takes a moment to share his disdain for people on bikes, among many other groups. As soon as I felt this anxiety, I realized how privileged I am and felt real shame. I can get off my bike any day of the week, but if my skin was a different color or I didn't speak English or I was employed by Black Lives Matter, I couldn't hop out of those identities so easily. Have any of us who are white really understood what it would be like to be disparaged by somebody who has a gun and the law on his side? I went to the coffee with cops event last week and had several really wonderful conversations with the officers there. I enjoyed it very much. They weren't all wonderful conversations though, and that's another thing that brings me here tonight. One officer told me I shouldn't go by his words, meaning Lieutenant Petrini's words, which I just thought was a really odd thing to say. And what am I supposed to go by? Presumably I am supposed to go by the words in his apology, but I was being told not to go by other words. It just didn't make sense to me. Someone else said he was upset about officers lost in the line of duty. That worried me even more because don't police officers face terribly challenging and upsetting situations regularly? I would think it's a core part of the job to work through this productively instead of lashing out. Several cops said to me, trust me, he's a good cop. I ask all of us to determine that a fundamental part of being a good cop is not writing articles like these, submitting them, helping to ensure that they are published, ensuring they're distributed to a wide audience. These words simply cannot come from someone who's a good cop. Thank you. Thank you. Betty Stone will be Jordan Weinstein. I'm Betty Stone. I live at 99 Harlow Street in East Arlington, and I'm town meeting member from Precinct 7. Of the 1000 plus people who signed the petition that's being submitted to you this evening, many of them appended extra comments or testimonials, and I'd like to share with you some of those comments. Experts on bias will tell you that we all have bias. The first step to overcoming it is to admit that it's there. The next step is to put practices in place that help us be more aware and to mitigate against its effects. The worst thing we can do is to not acknowledge it and not make an effort to change. I live in Arlington, and I'm worried and scared. Risk for violence is best dealt with by a forensic evaluation, not restorative justice. Maggots, animals, putting people down. A U.S. Army veteran and former corrections worker, I am appalled by this officer's apparent repeat history of vile dehumanizing screed. My father was born and raised in Arlington and the son of first generation Armenian Americans. I am adopted and of English and French descent and struggle with bipolar disorder. My wife is a Jewish American. We love Arlington and want to call it our home. We will not stand for the blatant ignorance displayed by Lieutenant Rick Padrini and the apparent lack of accountability during the RJ process. While I'm generally supportive of our town government, I found the town's treatment of Padrini to have been ill-advised, counterproductive, and lacking in transparency, and I feel strongly that it needs to be revisited with input from the town's residents. A police officer's role involves protecting people and keeping people safe. This seems to be missing in the actions and words of Lieutenant Rick Padrini. It's concerning to me that police officers around this country are allowed to act with impunity and I expect much better from Arlington, which I view as a progressive neighbor. I'm also struck by the irony of Sergeant Padrini being allowed to complete restorative justice when he derided it multiple times in the articles he published. This individual's behavior is deeply concerning and affects how safe anyone living or traveling in Arlington feels. I believe this case and its final outcome have implications far beyond the town of Arlington. If the town fulfills the request contained in this petition, Arlington may become a model for other communities facing similar situations. I urge the town to stand on the right side of history and set a positive example. If anyone wants to submit their statements, please feel free to. After Jordan Weinstein, is Louise Popkin? Hi, Jordan Weinstein, Precinct 21, Lenden Road in Arlington. I just wanted to first clear up what seemed to be a misunderstanding of what was in the petition and what was being asked by the thousand, more than a thousand people who signed the petition. It does not ask for the dismissal or determination of Lieutenant Padrini. It asks that he be put on desk assignment unarmed until the town goes through a process where it can evaluate its bias. The other question I had is, Madam Chair, you've mentioned a couple of times that there will be a community forum, but no one has, as of this moment, said anything about where or when it's going to be. Do you have any idea when this community forum is going to be held? Well, the petitions will go to the town manager. I don't, because we don't have involvement in that except to follow up on it. I don't know if Attorney Heim, if you know the meeting has been set yet. When the manager comes back, I'll see if he has a date set, but I honestly don't know. I'm not being disrespectful. Madam Chair, I don't have that information on the top of my head. The manager is obviously at the affordable housing presentation before the ARB. I'm sorry, housing production meeting before the ARB. I understand that he's going to try to come back. That's fine. And tonight, this is just Citizens Open Forum. I don't want to stray from the law in terms of answering questions. So just here to take what you have to say. So I'm sure the manager, when he announces it, you all will have access to it and probably become aware immediately. Thank you. Well, I would also assume that the Select Board could hold a meeting of its own if it so chose. I want to continue on the testimonials that were responses to our petition that was signed by more than a thousand people and dozens of community organizations. One respondent said, Pedrini's words affected much more than just one town and risk more than just his own actions going forward. His words affected communities across the Commonwealth and influenced police in heavily POC, people of color communities. Another respondent said, Because I know that the town officials may see signatures from non Arlington residents as less valid. Let me offer this. I live in Massachusetts. I travel to and through Arlington. What your police officers do and whether they're dangerous to people is of my immediate concern. This is in addition to my very strong feelings that the larger community needs to be accountable to stop the spread and acceptance of white supremacy. And white supremacy is very much the correct term for this man's beliefs. Arguably, our Constitution guarantees even malevolent men like him the right to hold and share his poisonous propaganda, but it doesn't ensure him the right to share them in his position of armed authority. It's terrifying that this man is allowed to continue to be on our streets, given authority to carry a weapon, and to potentially hurt people. The steps that Arlington has supposedly taken are meaningless, empty gestures, and it tells the world and your neighbors here in Massachusetts that Arlington is okay with this, that you support and condone white supremacy at an officer who, given the combination of his virulently racist views and his views on disabled people, is pretty much a recipe for harm to vulnerable residents. Thank you. Shame on Arlington. Get it together and take some action. After Louise Popkin will be Matt Paukras. I'm going to continue with the comments. Since moving to Arlington four years ago, I have been proud of the sustained commitment to racial justice in the face of disturbingly racist actions in schools and on public property. Acceptance of the proposals in this petition would restore my wavering faith in the potential of our town to chart a firm and clear path for inclusive justice that addresses the needs of all marginalized citizens. Another says, across the nation, it is obvious that more precise psychological screening needs to be administered to applicants for law enforcement positions. Lieutenant Padrini would seem to have the kinds of issues that should bar him from a career in law enforcement, let alone being authorized to carry a gun. Another, this process of restorative justice was misused in this case. Whatever process was used under the umbrella of RJ was inappropriate and neither restorative for those hurt by this police officer, nor did it do justice for those hurt or for the Arlington Police Department and other groups working hard to promote human rights in Arlington and surrounding towns. Further, those hurt by this officer's words and the public at large are being kept in the dark about what actually happened in the restorative justice process for this officer. How can we then expect to trust that our police forces are really fair and committed to unbiased protection of all citizens? If a more comprehensive, fair process of investigation and reparation is not made, this miscarriage of justice will stain Arlington indefinitely and have a lasting chilling effect on people and surrounding communities. This must be addressed in a way that preserves the RJ process as it is meant to work for those who have committed a crime and not for those who have not committed a crime. Next, hate-based words lead to hate-based action which makes Arlington unsafe for everyone. Next, the actions and racist statements by this police officer from Arlington negatively impact all of our communities. Next, I plan to boycott all Arlington stores and restaurants until this matter is resolved to my satisfaction. Next, my biggest concern is that after the RJ process, Lieutenant Padrini was returned to the same job as before with no consequence other than an apology. How is that right and what message does that send to Lieutenant Padrini and the Arlington community? Next, threats of violence should be evaluated by forensically trained mental health providers. Next, thanks to all who are working to reverse the misuse of restorative justice, Officer Padrini is not fit to serve the town of Arlington because of his discriminatory views and his call for violence against people he is supposed to serve and protect. Next, I hope Arlington will heed this petition and set the example for other towns and small cities like mine in Massachusetts. Thank you, thank you. After Matt Pocrus, we have John Sanbornonatsu. I apologize, I know I did not do very well. So, is Matt here? No, I'm going to respect everybody who's on the list. Are you on the list anyways? John Sanbornonatsu, yes. Okay. Good evening, thank you for having the forum. My name is John Sanbornonatsu, I live on Varnum Street. Point of order before you begin timing me, can I address two different issues that have been brought up tonight? You can say whatever you want for three minutes. Thank you very much. Very briefly, I do want to support the emotion that these folks here have brought forward about the petting zoo on Town Day. This summer, I was in Cambridge Common and there was a petting zoo, I don't know if it was the same company, and it was really horrifying to see the way the animals were being terrorized. Imagine a tiny little pen and these toddlers chasing within a space of three feet these little baby ducks who are clearly going to get injured. And I say this as someone who teaches ethics at the college level. I teach ethics at Mr. Polytechnic Institute. So, I think it's, I just strongly support your motion. Regarding the possibility of termination for Pedrini and the town manager's open letter in August, he cited his concern that it would not be upheld in arbitration as the reason they did not seek it in this case. However, this ignores the trend of recent decisions regarding officers in the Commonwealth who engage in racist rhetoric. In 2017, a police officer in Springfield was fired after making an abhorrent comment on social media about anti-racist activist Heather Hyer, who was killed during the Charlottesville protests. The officer was denied reinstatement during arbitration, and the Springfield Police Commissioner stated, in 2012, a cop was fired from the Lemonster Police Department for calling an African-American Red Sox player a racist slur. When an Arlington resident brought up this case to the town manager when asking about termination, Mr. Schaptelen erroneously stated this officer had been reinstated. But the officer actually lost his arbitration case in 2013 and remains fired. Of the firing, the Lemonster Police Chief stated, quote, his comments were repugnant and violated the standards we expect from all Lemonster police officers. In 2009, a Boston Police Department officer who called an African-American Harvard University professor a racial slur in an email was immediately terminated. This case was asserted to set a new precedent for termination of officers for racist rhetoric in Massachusetts. In 2010, he was denied reinstatement by an arbiter. The Boston Police Commissioner stated, quote, given the egregious nature of his actions and its effect on our community, I strongly believe that the only appropriate discipline is termination. We will not allow the actions, he said, of one to damage the community relationships that are essential to our mission to serve the citizens of Boston. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Casper Kasperian and after Casper will be Robin Bergman. Hi, my name is Casper Kasperian. I live at 285 Renfrew Street. I'm a town meeting member for Precinct 18. I'm going to read from this because I'm not going to remember everything I was saying. We as people should stand up for what is morally right against what is wrong. And I ask, what should we expect from those we entrust with leadership in our community? I'm disappointed that the select board, in conjunction with others who are responsible within this purview, has considered no consequence for Officer Petrini that assures our public safety in Arlington. In a conversation last November that our Tom manager had with Chief Ryan, Chief Ryan said, one critical element of restorative justice is to show remorse and a willingness to show responsibility for your actions. And the harm caused by your actions. I don't think that he is that in that mindset and his view on our community values are likely to change in any meaningful way. And the Tom manager reply was, I fear you're right about that. I fear you're right about that. Given Officer Petrini's negative history and the risk associated with it, it is reasonable to disarm him and to let him continue in the Arlington Police Department serving desk duty responsibilities. I ask that all those who can decide contingencies for Officer Petrini reconsider what was initially decided and consider this option in the best interest of our community. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Robin Bergman and after Robin will be Andy Orem. Hi, Robin Bergman, 320 Park Avenue. Thanks for letting us speak. I'm going to continue reading some of the comments from our petition. I work in Arlington. I don't feel that Arlington's actions to discipline Lieutenant Petrini for his racist actions go far enough. I don't feel safe in a community that sends a message to Arlington residents and business operators that actions like Lieutenant Petrini are in line with our values as American citizens. And the next one, the dehumanization of human beings in his writings is alarming as is his understanding of immigration law and international treaties. He has strong opinions about quote liberals and especially offensively illegals and his habit of loving, lumping everyone together into groups that he believes are monolithic and subhuman makes it concerning that he can be impartial in his policing. My hope is that this issue can be investigated further and if found necessary the individual in question can undergo further evaluation and training. Another, I was appalled when this story broke last year. This is a wake up call for Arlington to educate law enforcement and others in leadership regarding implicit bias and to ensure that racism and bigotry are not condoned. And another, as a previous resident of Arlington this sends but does not surprise me. I thought about moving back when I can afford a house but this kind of behavior does not represent a community I'd want to raise children in. And another, this man's perspective which he shares through his writing reflects the exact attitudes that are cutting up our country right now and deeply polarizing it. The problem is there's no willingness to really listen and ultimately cultivate acceptance and tolerance. Moving towards love is the only way. People get burned when you fight fire with fire. This man is adding to the collective fire. People have already been hurt and he doesn't get it. Provincial attitudes are part of an old evolutionary trend that we must change if we are to move ahead and effectively take care of each other. Another, public servants should be held to a higher standard not given a pass because they risk their lives. And another, given recent national events Arlington needs to step up. We cannot and will not tolerate our police fomenting hate and division. And another, the decision to apply RJ in the case of Officer Padrini was made inappropriately by town officials and the APD. Accordingly I believe that the petition to conduct a review of the APD for bias should be extended to other town government entities not only the APD. And another, I am disgusted by the racist propaganda the Massachusetts Police Association publishes. It scares me to think that not only is the person writing this offensive white supremacist rhetoric a police officer, he is also on the executive board of their union. I am afraid for all of us. Thank you. Next is Andy Orham and after that is Mike A. Healy. Thank you. Andy Orham of High Hath Road. One of my children is transgender which puts them in the category as you've already heard of people who are often abused toward a night medical treatment who are mistreated by the police. Now I know that police are human like the rest of us. They don't understand people and they're afraid of people they don't understand. And so there are rules and protocols for handling difficult situations. It's part of professional behavior and when a policeman encourages people to ignore professional behavior and to follow their worst impulses that person has to be removed from the police force and the town has to enforce the right protocols and give people the training to act properly. I know it's hard to challenge the police. Brookline is in a similar situation if you saw today's Boston Globe. It's hard. They're very powerful. I need the police to protect me and I need them to protect my transgender child as well. But if they're not going to act professional they are dangerous. Thank you. After Miss Healy Rajir Sonia Sonia. I didn't say you do your first name. Just sorry. Hi my name is Makaya. I live on Howard Street and I am a black woman and many of your neighbors. I'm also the co-chair of the Diversity Task Group. I was the former chair up until last month. So it's good to be with you all. I've been encouraged to speak up and speak my mind. Somebody said don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good and we need to hear your voice. And I've met with many many people over the past year. And I just want to say like I do feel a lot of hope. This issue has brought so many of our neighbors together in a terrible like twisted sort of way but I know a bunch of people because of this issue. And I do feel a little bit of hope of what we can do but it's going to take a lot of hard work and I have one ask of you all tonight. So yeah I have talked with a range of people including many commissioners in the Human Rights Commission. Many of our town administrative the Diversity Task Group and we all want the same thing. We all want healing. We all want to move forward. We all want safety in this town. And you know that's positive. That's great that everyone wants to come to the table and provide safety for our town. This has to stop at some point. This has to stop. And we can't go back regardless of how I personally feel about the issue or regardless about how any of us feel. And I really think that it's great to have a consistent message going forward from the town leadership from all of you that and I think the way that we can do that is through adopting a code of conduct that can be enforced. So that is my one ask because that is in your power to be able to adopt town policy. And I don't know how to do that. I'm not an expert but we want to help make that happen. I think that is the log jam to us being able to have a community conversation because if there's not a structure in place, if there's not a policy in place that is enforceable then we can't meet like it's going to read traumatize everyone to just to be in the same room together. And I know that's coming down. That's coming down right. We have to get in the room together at some point. So I think that is my one ask. I could say so many things but thank you. Thank you so much. After Rajer is Kathleen Luntz. Hi my name is Rajiv Sonija. I live on 13 Mary Street. I thank you all for allowing me to speak again. I was here a month ago unprepared but I want to reiterate the writings of this police officer were racist. They were supremacist and they were unambiguously anti-immigrant and other marginalized groups. What we have not heard is anybody in the town leadership explicitly state that. I consider myself privileged and emboldened enough to come again second time. I've been working with a lot of people on this issue but I do realize I consider myself vulnerable. I am an immigrant. I'm obviously not a person of ethnic majority. So I have been called names. I have been accused of many things online. I have been called divisive for working on this as many others have. So it would really help if the town leadership, the town manager, members of the select board explicitly come out and state these writings as such. They're racist and divisive and they should never happen again. But I also have some asks of you. I volunteer with the Envision Arlington's Diversity Task Group as with Micaiah Healy who spoke before me. I am also the co-chair and we just took a vote today and I want to state that the Diversity Task Group is the first town committee to explicitly endorse the petition that was presented to the select board today. So as part of that I would like to invite you to work with the marginalized communities. I would like to for you to take the leadership and speak to all the people who feel harmed by this. I understand how fearful I am. I can only imagine what somebody who's not as privileged as me feels as a result of these writings. I also want to remind you for letting this issue linger on as it has for a year now. Just as somebody mentioned about the issue in Brookline, it's been nine years that's been ongoing. So we definitely do not want to repeat of that in this town. And finally I just want to say that as per the CBR report's recommendation, they have asked for the town leadership to work with a lot of marginalized communities. I would like you to take a lead on that. It's important for justice not only to be done, it must seem to be having done. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next is Kathleen Lentz after that is Gwen Wong. Hi. I'm Kathleen Lentz. I live on Newport Street. I too am concerned about the reinstatement of Lieutenant Padrini. Clearly many people are in town and I think they should be. I'm a psychiatrist and I know that people who harm others can change. But I also know that people do not change quickly. And I also know that being required to change with some you know, some reason like losing your job can often result in a superficial appearance of change. The restorative justice process was inappropriate for this situation. Restorative justice is an innovative idealistic approach to wrongdoing in a community. But its application is not appropriate for all situations. As with mediation, which is another alternative to traditional legal procedures, there must be no significant power differential in the picture. For example, in mediation domestic violence is never addressed. It is turned back to the court system. Restorative justice can work well for teens charged with vandalism or shoplifting, even in some cases adult crimes of a similar severity. But in the case of a police officer who has written materials threatening to the public, the power differential is obviously huge and the threat is a serious one. Communities for restorative justice, which I understand supported this process with the lieutenants threatening writings should have rejected the use of restorative justice in this situation. I believe Mr. Chapter Lane's decision to use RJ was well intentioned, but it was in fact a poor choice. Hate speech has been rising in the United States and hate crimes have followed. Arlington needs to go back to square one, put the lieutenant on desk work for now so that residents are not subjected to the fear that the town's police force may mistreat them, and then worked to find another better approach to this situation. Personally, I think that firing lieutenant Padrini will be required, but I also think that it's appropriate for the town to try to work with him to get help for himself, to do a real process, not the brief informal non-professional process that restorative justice ends up being in a situation this severe. I think also the town in some way owns him an apology for using this inappropriate method to address the issue. Thank you very much. Gwen Wong after Gwen will be June Ratowski. My name is Gwen DeLynne Wong. I live at 151 Lowell Street. Having written a public apology for hate speech that he characterized as quote careless and crude or thoughtless, Lieutenant Padrini has been given a new multi-year contract and a gun and remains a problem for all of us to solve together. His published writings and the town's response has damaged the trust between the community, our police department, and town leadership. We need to plan next steps together to rebuild trust. The CBI report states the obvious. The process is far from complete. Quoting from the report, Ms. Smith wrote that the town chose quote a confidential RJ process distinctly lacking clarity and transparency, treating this situation as quote an employer-employee matter with no avenue for input from affected groups or members of the community at large. Ms. Smith further writes quote the process did not repair harms and that the process calls for Padrini to quote participate in further community dialogues. The sad reality is that Lieutenant Padrini shamed himself, his family, his profession, his department, and the Arlington community and by returning to him his service weapon, the entire town but certainly and specifically the town manager, the select board, and the Arlington police department are complicit in taking on a risk that this rogue cop may take out his frustrations in a manner that will further damage the reputation and potentially harm more lives in this beautiful town. Choosing a confidential RJ process with no transparency, our current situation with a petition of a thousand plus signatures and speakers at every select board meeting can only be described as an utterly predictable outcome with no end in sight. I don't believe that this man is suitable to be a police officer by saying quote I am sick and tired of the social justice warriors telling us how to do our jobs. He's really saying that he has no interest in professional development or learning new approaches new approaches to policing and he should not be armed. Anyone who openly seeks violence, let meet violence with violence and get the job done should not have a gun. In summary, Lieutenant Padrini has yet to meet his harmed public. Lieutenant Padrini needs to honor his written pledge in his public apology that he is quote committed to meeting with community groups. The CBI report agrees. I hope we can all agree about this. He needs to convince the community in face-to-face meetings that he has learned something about himself and he deserves his job for another five years. Thank you very much. Next is June Rotkowski. And after June is is Kristin Martin. Good evening everyone. My name is June Rotkowski. I live at Alpine Terrace. I am deeply disappointed and kind of shocked that the town manager did not do the right thing in Lieutenant Padrini's case that he did not attempt to terminate him. Mr. Chapter Lane explained his reasoning in an open letter. I appreciate this effort but I believe that Officer Padrini giving him a smooth return to the APD via restorative justice was the wrong thing to do. I'm also deeply disappointed and shocked that the select board at the September 9th meeting unanimously approved the town manager's handling of the case. There are glaring contradictions between what the town manager and select board have said and what they have done. In his open letter the town manager called Padrini's words xenophobic and vile and inconsistent with what the APD stands for but he didn't try to remove him from the APD. Some select board members have spoken forcefully about how unacceptable untrue and reprehensible Padrini's published opinions are but they gave their full fawning support to the town manager's decisions. Decisions that let Padrini avoid any real consequences for his far-reaching hateful calls for violence. You cannot say you deplore racism and calls for violence and support decisions that returned an outspoken racist to the police force. You cannot expect people to trust your leadership when you dismiss their concerns about how this decision the situation was handled and you cannot expect people to forgive and feel safe when you have put one man's security above the security of many. That the town manager and select board that the town manager and select board might not see the contradictions between their words and their actions is caused for great concern that they do see the contradictions but chose to ignore them for the sake of expediency is just plain wrong. The town manager made a mistake in offering Padrini restorative justice and the select board compounded this error by supporting his decision to do so. I would like to see you all admit your mistakes to the town and especially to the marginalized people who were targeted by Padrini. That would be a real start in the healing process that we all want. If it is really too late to terminate Padrini I call on the town manager to do everything in his power to keep him and his gun away from people until his contract with the town expires. That is the very least that should be done. Thank you. After Kristen Martin we'll have Elizabeth Gray. Hi Kristen Martin I live on Fairmont Street. Everyone read already what I was going to read so I will speak from personal experience. This is my first time here and it's very uncomfortable because I'm outing myself and it will come with victim shaming and blaming of what in your report that years ago but I'm used to that. I had a run-in with Padrini about 15 years ago. I had a best friend call me and say I'm in an abusive relationship and I need help and I said we need to go to the police station. We need to get something on file because if you don't get anything on file nothing's gonna work because I was in that situation which is why she called me and I had nothing on file. So we went to the police station and she was like I'm really scared and I know what's gonna happen here and I said I know and I know what's gonna happen here but we have to try and maybe there'll be a different outcome. So we knew walking in that it was gonna be uncomfortable that there was a possibility that she would be victim blamed and shamed and she was and she was by Padrini. I luckily was there with her and I'm willing to speak up for anybody so I have no problem him bullying me and we did ask for restraining order and he did go into her with why are you an abusive relationship and why did you do this and why did you do that. So it was really a wonderful experience as you can tell and that friend gave me the articles that he you know that were released and we were both like we're not surprised we're not surprised by any of this behavior. So I'm here on behalf of her because I don't think she would out herself but it's also like what's the point you know no one's gonna believe me because when this came out there was we're in the comment section on the Arlington website and all that stuff and I said well I know from experience this is exactly what happened and people from the town called me a liar and I was like why would we lie about this I don't even want to be talking about this. So I'm I just don't understand why he's not fired for stuff that is on file for what he said it's really concerning and I know you're like why do you guys keep doing this blah blah but that's kind of you know what protesting is it's uncomfortable and disruptive and we got to keep doing what we're doing for your time. Thank you and then lastly Elizabeth Dre. I'm Elizabeth Dre on Jason Street. I've spoken to everybody here many times so now I'm going to speak to the residents of Arlington. This is a very challenging time and we are at a crossroads and I urge you all to pay attention. Talking about this situation is hard it's uncomfortable it's stressful it takes emotional energy that we don't have it takes time from our already packed daily lives that we don't have to give. It's much easier to stay in our lanes it's much easier to be too busy it's much easier to wait for somebody else to do this but we can't do that anymore. A year has gone by we have wasted a year waiting. Many of us including myself have had the luxury to believe that Arlington was a progressive safe and welcoming town and it is for some of us but at the same time it's important to acknowledge that other people have a different reality of Arlington a different experience when they walk and drive down our streets when they shop at the same stores when they send their children to the same schools Arlington is not welcoming to everybody it is not safe for everybody. We must take the brave step of admitting that that we do not have the same experience as each other here in Arlington and neither one of these realities is wrong it just is but it's always been this way and before Lieutenant Petrini's speech hateful speech we could just pretend it wasn't there but he brought it out in the open and now our leadership had a choice to make dig in and do the hard work or look away and hope that nobody notices. You chose the latter and by choosing to protect Lieutenant Petrini and the status quo at the expense of the residents and myself at the expense of the integrity and the reputation of the town of Arlington you have advocated your responsibility so now it's up to us the people it's up to you who are at home listening who are mad at the words that I'm saying that make you uncomfortable it's up to you at home who are nodding in agreement discomfort is necessary to make change happen we have to do the hard work because our leadership didn't and won't the majority of select board members told me that in person that they didn't really know what restorative justice was when they approved approved the town manager's plan some still don't the fact that they never took the time to educate themselves about something so incredibly explosive to this community and their elected and paid jobs is a gut punch to all of us thank you if you want to do one or two more sentences thank you very much I would love to Arlington I'd like to say only one person is responsible responsible for destroying the reputation of the town of Arlington and the trust we once had in the leadership in the police department and that person is is Rick Padrini please find us online at Arlingtonfightsracism.com thank you very much okay okay next we go to next we go to correspondence received um is our motion to move received so moved by mr. Curel seconded by second mr. Decorsi um does anybody need to refer um correspondence number 15 we heard from in uh citizens open forum the request for the crosswalk um that came via the answer center should that go to the town manager to the police department to the planning department planning police yeah yes she was gonna come on on she's she's here at Diane if she wants the first agenda item number 13 yeah but we don't do that I'll let her do it briefly if she's here and she sat here all night is someone here on 13 uh yes okay sorry but in the future we in mrs. Cropelka mrs. Cropelka in the future correspondence received is yeah I didn't know it's until it's an agenda item okay yeah but in the future because it's gonna add to everything okay go ahead name name and address hi my name is Cheryl master Giovanni and um I've lived in Arlington for 15 years this is my first select board meeting and oh god bless you sorry and anyway um so um I've lived I live in Arlington high it's my son just started kindergarten at Dalin and he loves it and we love that he can walk to school every day so I'm just um requesting um I know you probably can't see this from where you're sitting but um walking to school to and from every day we just live at a really dangerous intersection if you know this intersection it's a five-way intersection and um I know someday my son will be walking without me walking him and um so there are several kids on our street too that walk the same route and unfortunately there's um a crosswalk across from Oakland here and there's one going across what shoes it but there's really no safe way for us to cross from here to get to and from Dalin so I just um wanted the town to just consider adding another crosswalk in there just to make it a safe place for us to cross that's it so thank you for and what we've done is we've referred it to the town manager yeah which will um consult with the police department and then when they come back with a recommendation resolution it'll be an agenda item and you'll be notified um you know you don't have to come in but if you want to come in and um and anybody else okay thank you so much for your time sometimes they go to tack yes um let's see the soccer club from dean karman I think we're just receiving that and the end star petition um that again is just receipt so if there's mr dunn so on the animal welfare um I would ordinarily say refer to town day committee but I but I know that they're they've got it already but at the same time let's just let's say refer to town day committee as well definitely definitely so um on a motion to move receipt by mr caro seconded by uh mr decoracy number 13 to refer to the town manager number 14 receipt number 15 to refer to the town day committee and number 16 receipt any further questions or comments if not all those of me I I oppose unanimous vote new business to mrs corpalka attorney hind just one small thing I want to thank the attorney general's office municipal law unit as well as the town clerks association a lot of folks have been really helpful in making sure that there was an expedited review of certain bylaws that were submitted a little bit later in the schedule and um those bylaws have for the most part been approved there's two that they're holding on to that are um one town bylaw and one zoning bylaw just because they need a little bit more time but they went ahead and proved the ones including the tree protection bylaw which is very important and a few other measures which they were basically ready to go on with a somewhat uh expedited review thank you mr chapterling uh i just two quick pieces one this is my first meeting back since the trip to japan to visit the town sister city and uh because i just want to say thank you to the board for the opportunity to to travel and uh i want to assure you the people in nigococchio cherish and value the relationship with arlington more than i ever could have appreciated so i was for for all of us i think finding the right way to support that relationship is i think is an important thing for us to do secondly i was gone for an hour over the arb to give the same presentation on housing that i gave to the board back in the summer and um i spoke a number of citizens spoke and um all of the citizens who spoke noted uh dependent no matter their perspective that they were astounded with how civil and productive the dialogue was so um we have we have some hope for a productive dialogue over the course of the next year so so i thought that was very positive thank you yes thank you madam chair a couple things um last friday mr currow mr chapterling and i attended the ribbon cutting at the new minuteman high school our public vocational high school and um that was a great event the students did there's a central core in the building and all the students were brought down for the assembly and there were a number of people from the member communities and a number of people um were recognized and one person who wasn't there because he was away but who had a big part in this was mr dunn because this would have never happened if the regional agreement wasn't reworked between 2013 and 2016 so um it was a great event i want to thank mr dunn for that work because it as i said that in order to move forward to new building we had to move forward with the new agreement i know your work was instrumental in that um second thing is it's just that the town manager and i have been talking a little bit about um and and this goes back to water rates in the community and we voted an increase um over the summer and one thing i've been asked by a couple people is well we don't know what a lot of times what we're buying when we we get our water bills because it's a ccf is 100 cubic feet of water well 100 cubic feet of water is 748 gallons and so um the new rates are up on the town's website and we're working to put something up there so people can convert what they're receiving for bills every quarter to gallons just to get an idea of what their consumption is so we're going to continue to do that that's all i have mr dunn uh i'm really sorry i missed the ribbon cutting it was uh the calendar was it was very cruel and they they'd sent out that saved the date i don't know like three months before hand and i'd already bought my ticket now it's really i'm sorry i missed it but i'm very excited uh at that event thank you for about the going nothing else mr carol um i just wanted to just briefly say that um for an hour before our meeting this evening um mr chaplain and i um had a chance to meet with mr siano who's uh representative on the mess massachusetts uh citizen community advisory community advisory community advisory committee dealing with the airplane noise east garlington um mr kasaraba myron kasaraba from belmont who is um his counterpart and who has done an incredible amount of analytical work on this um came to to brief a few residents and and the manager and one of the residents that asked me to come along long story short um as i think we all know there's been an ongoing study that um mit has been doing um in support of this process to see if there's a way to redo those flight routes that will i think the hope for for a lot of folks is that we'll redisperse some of those airplane routes so there's not concentrated impact and for us that's residents in east garlington um what looks like is going to happen is that that um i think mr siano will probably be working with others to to pull together a recommendation on what maybe the top few options that would be most advantageous to our linkedin would be um he's going to be called upon to go go in and and actually vote and participate in meeting with the other communities within um the mass port um district and i think that whatever he comes in to recommend he's going to want to discuss with us and and get some backing from the from the board so that he he has um you know some teeth walking in and it's all across the board it's a very technical discussion i'll say but there's been a lot of analysis but just so that that's on our mind i know that in the past the board has written letters to the fba and and such so um it persists and just another fun one coming up thank you mr her just wanted to thank the island fire department in the firefighter's union for a really top with tier one event that they had a couple weeks ago at the burnt linkedin marriott glad i made i originally went to the sons of italy but then i called marian but um it was a great honor for um both chieftain and the three other the three other retirees was with a lot of good laughs and then the other thing is yesterday i ran in the uh some of the 5k i figured i'd try to do it without training at all which is why i can't stand up right now but i do want to thank thank the police department first 5k that ran in arlington and i didn't know how much work they did to keep the root secure of the officers that were involved i saw them each about three or four times because they kept driving around to different points on the root and they uh they kept us safe and the dpw came right in after and and cleaned up as soon as we cleared out of there so it was a great event thank you mr don i forgot i had one other item so i think i certainly was and i think most of us are approached by some citizens who are talking about reordering the order of uh for town meeting the warrant article order and uh i've been persuaded that they're making a good case and so what i'd like what i'm going to request the chair to do is that when we open the warrant at a future at a when we put that on the agenda at the same time under put a second agenda item on there with where we talk about what we think the agenda would be invite uh moderator fincom chair the air be chair anyone who not requiring them obviously but if they wish to weigh in and then i'm gonna i'm i'm gonna i think i'm gonna be making a case that we should be doing effectively kind of like most generally select board articles generally zoning generally finance but with flexibility but in that order and i just wanted to let the board know that i was contemplating bring that up for a future item definitely and just to that end i'll say what i said to pete um and through pete to go ahead and james and and i'm sure others uh when i first got on the board in 1999 and again in 2009 it always irritated me that the board of select men now select board even though we oversee the warrant uh don't necessarily do not place the order of arrangement and what i said to pete was the two times that i tried to do it it's been like i want to rewrite the ten commandments and change their position you know so i kind of had had given up but but i am very encouraged because i think starting off with the zoning articles right you know first bat especially for you know brand new town meeting members and sometimes for returning town meeting members who might just be really doing uh heavy perusal through the packet um i had said and we can have this conversation in december when we opened the warrant that um i felt you know where the finance committee articles are appropriate um i always wanted to open with select men articles and ten registered voters because i think that's a good way if you're new to kind of gear into it but we can have that conversation in the future and what i'm taking from that is something i didn't have the other two times is um if a majority or all of the board agrees we'll have a really good conversation about that and um maybe rearrange the order so um with that before i take a motion to adjourn our next regularly scheduled meeting is october 28 2019 they'll take a motion to adjourn by madam chair did we need to dispense with number one oh we do move approval moved by mr don seconded by mr curell um i don't know that she came in should i read it into this you know okay um so uh on a motion by mr curell seconded by mr don on agenda item one the proclamation um any further questions or comment if not all those in favor say aye all those opposed unanimously vote we'll adjourn because i completely forgot about that thank you a motion to adjourn by mr curell seconded by second mr heard all in favor say aye all those opposed unanimously vote good night everybody