Heated Melrose Conversation Just Getting Started

MELROSE, MA — It's been another busy week in Melrose. Here's an effort to shake the reporter's notebook and see what comes out.

Just The Beginning

The conversation about "defunding the police" — which in this case means the reallocation of free cash earmarked for upgrading police firearms to instead fund citywide implicit bias training — is just starting.

The City Council on Monday must finalize what the Appropriations Committee recommended Thursday night: appropriating $195,714.85 of free cash to the Melrose Police Department. Tucked inside that total is $26,000 for to upgrade the department's 14-year-old .40 caliber weapons for what Chief Mike Lyle said are more accurate and cost-efficient 9mm weapons.

Since the Appropriations Committee is made up of the entirety of the City Council, the Council usually approves what Appropriations recommends. But these aren't usual times.

The Council has been bombarded with reaction following Thursday night's 8-3 vote to pass the police appropriation as is, including the $26,000. The criticism has gone far beyond the usual Facebook discourse — passionate criticisms have been sent to members of the Council.

If the three Councilors who voted against passing the appropriation hold firm — and there is no indication they won't — just one Councilor flipping from a Yes vote to a No vote would strip the Yes's of the super majority needed. While no Councilors have said publicly they are reconsidering their votes, the pressure and criticism they are facing cannot be discounted.

As many have pointed out, the vote Thursday night was along gender lines: Councilors Jen Grigoraitis, Leila Migliorelli and Maya Jamaleddine voted No; Councilors Chris Cinella, Jack Eccles, Mark Garipay, Shawn MacMaster, Jeff McNaught, Robb Stewart, Cory Thomas and John Tramontozzi voted Yes.

Remember, the Councilors are voting on the entire free cash police allotment, which includes overtime money and repairing/supporting four vehicles. They are not voting on the $26,000 weapons upgrade itself, though it certainly is at the core of the vote. So a No vote is not an effort to keep the entire allotment from going to police, but to amend out the $26,000, then passing the rest.

Even if there were defections from the Yes side, it's unlikely that amendment to remove the $26,000 would get enough support. That could result in a stalemate of sorts, with one side holding up the full police allotment, and the other side refusing to allow the weapons upgrade to be removed.

This doesn't necessarily need to be a one-for-one trade. There is what looks to be unanimous support for funding implicit bias training, but probably not enough for doing so at the expense of this weapons upgrade.

But it's also not as simple as getting the money from somewhere else: There is a message in getting it from this particular line item, something Mayor Paul Brodeur made clear in his memo to the City Council: "Investing in police firearms right now while the City is in the midst of determining how to respond meaningfully to the ongoing systemic barriers Black people and other people of color face would be misguided."

What Was Said

Watching remote city meetings with sometimes spotty internet/technology makes it difficult to capture everything that is said. Even upon rewatches, it's hard to pick up on some of it. (Note to participants: Mute when you are not speaking!) Patch is not a stenographer and does not provide an exhaustive list of every statement put forth by every official, and readers are always encouraged to watch the meetings on mmtv3.org before forming an opinion. We are just trying to inform the community on what's happening.

That being said, here's some more of what Councilors said on such an important topic:

Cinella, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, quoted New York Police Benevolent Association President Mike O'Meara's recent speech, which in part said, "Our legislatures are failing us. Our press is vilifying us. Stop treating us like animals and thugs and start treating us with some respect. We've been vilified and it's disgusting."

Cinella said he agreed, and found it "ironic" that the Council only weeks ago unanimously passed a resolution supporting police.

"The last time I checked the Melrose Police Department had zero civil rights violations," he said. "There's nothing but honor and integrity for that badge and for this community to serve and protect all the residents. [All] 28,193. So perhaps we can be asking them what are they doing right?"

McNaught, who like others who voted to pass the appropriation of free cash made clear his support for a fixing a broken, racist system in the United States, said he is a "believer and a huge supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement" and also a believer that "not all police are bad."

"I view trying to take away the extremely nominal amount of $26,000 as a form of defunding," he said. "I don't want to go overboard and say we're defunding the Melrose Police Department, but we are underfunding them, and that's before this $26,000."

He said the city should "join forces with [police] as our No. 1 ally in the fight against racism and a fight to be as inclusive as we can be and one community open to all."

He also said $26,000 doesn't come close to taking care of the kind of training the city needs.

Jamaleddine said, "I don't think anyone ever questioned or doubted the police department. I think every single occasion we have we share our utmost respect and appreciation for our police department ... I think when the mayor asked for the training he didn't target one department, he asked for all the departments."

Melrose Gets Busy

The city's departments, boards and commissions are in the midst of what is supposed to be a good, hard look in the mirror. This weekend they are asked to draft a report on which actions can be taken to promote inclusion and fight systemic racism. The results of "Two Weeks To Change" are expected to be made public around end of the week.

The city also issued a whole lot of press releases this week, including some Patch has already reported on. Among them were the recreation department reopening, drive-thru COVID-19 testing this upcoming Friday, curbside pickup being launched, the Hoover School safe routes project named a Bronze Level Safe Routes to School project by the state's Department of Transportation and more.

This And That

Have you noticed some of the outdoor dining? One look outside Wood and Fire this weekend makes us wonder: When the coronavirus dust settles, will there be any going back from dedicated space for outdoor dining? ... Take it from this Muffin Man: The muffins at Jitters and Bohemian haven't lost a step ... Is it a Board of Health thing that keeps restaurants and businesses from being allowed to prop open their doors to avoid people grabbing the door handle and providing some ventilation? A reporter should ask at some point ... If you're hoarding Melrose Public Library books, DVDs or anything else, it's time to bring them back. This upcoming weekend, to be exact. Here's some info ... It really is a bummer to see the Victorian Fair canceled. It's a relatively small (and expected) blip in the grand scheme of COVID, but a real loss for the community ... It's hard to overstate what kind of a transition the schools are in for, and that's before even accounting for the fact that Superintendent Cyndy Taymore will be handing the baton off at the end of this month. Taymore is in the home stretch before Julie Kukenberger takes over ... An always interesting Traffic Commission meeting is set for Wednesday. After that four-way stop sign at Dell and East Foster, we are reminded of this truth.