Medford Councilors Agree To Virtual Budget Meetings

MEDFORD, MA — Budget talks will begin in Medford after the City Council agreed to hold meetings over Zoom. The process was expected to start last Saturday after Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn submitted her Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal to the City Council, but councilors Richard Caraviello, George Scarpelli, Michael Marks and Adam Knight did not log on for meetings on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

There was debate over whether a City Council vote in early May stipulated that budget meetings must be held in person. Two resolutions pertaining to public meetings passed May 5 – one asked the council president and mayor to work with the council to develop a plan to safely hold in-person budget hearings, and the other established safety measures for in-person meetings.

Council President John Falco and Vice President Caraviello met with city officials, including Health Director MaryAnn O'Connor, on Wednesday to find a viable solution. They narrowed it down to two options – a hybrid model that would have had the council meet in its chambers with relevant department heads, while the public participated over Zoom, and an entirely virtual setting, which the council has been using since March.

The hybrid option presented a number of obstacles, mainly involving technical issues and the ability to test the room and connections in time for the meetings to start, while the status quo presented obstacles with which the city is already familiar, Falco said.

"After our consultation, we have therefore decided to continue our budget discussions in the fully virtual Zoom format that we have used since March," Falco wrote Wednesday. "We acknowledge our colleagues' concerns and thank them for agreeing to work together in the best interest of our city. We all understand the importance of passing this budget and are committed to doing so."

The first meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 27 at 9 a.m. In the event that discussions are not done by June 30, the mayor has submitted a 1/12 budget for consideration at Tuesday's meeting. Both the full annual budget and the 1/12 budget will be on the agenda, Falco said.

Previously: Divide Over Virtual Forum Stymies Medford Budget Talks