Melrose Tension Has Familiar Stench To It

MELROSE, MA — It's the weekend. So let's shake the reporter's notebook and see what comes out.

A somber anniversary

Direct criticisms from the City Council to the mayor. Bickering councilors tossing accusations at one another. Irate residents demanding accountability from those they elected.

It's not hard to find some comparisons between the current discussion on re-routing police funding for bias training and the 2019 Brazil Street catastrophe.

Substantively, of course, the two couldn't be more different. But seeing such a bitterly divided City Hall drums up memories from the infamous sewage spew, of which Saturday marked the one-year anniversary.

What began as unimaginable foulness exploding into four homes right off Washington Street turned into a public relations nightmare Melrose was never able to wake from. The city came under a firestorm of criticism for being reactive, having half-measured, tone-deaf responses and poor communication.

Much like now, it was a perfect storm of circumstances and timing. But the friction among and ire toward city officials was in many ways worse.

Public opinion during Brazil Street appeared to be uniformly against the city — unlike the divisiveness of today — and it never got better during the lengthy, messy fallout. Television news cameras and apoplectic residents filled the City Hall on more than one occasion.

Now, most of the discourse is digital and contained within city limits.

Mayor Paul Brodeur, who like other mayoral candidates was critical of the way the previous administration responded to the situation, is contending with a pandemic and national reckoning on race and police brutality. But the impact of last year's crisis still lingers.

Of the four homes affected, only two house the same occupants it did the morning of June 20, 2019, Brazil Street resident and Ward 5 Councilor Shawn MacMaster said when asked by Patch. One of the homes remains empty. A monumental investment in the city's ancient sewage infrastructure is as vital as ever.

The city has moved on to new crises. But there is still some cleaning up to do on Brazil Street.

Mending fences

City Councilors are only a quarter of the way through their terms, but already gaps in communication, misunderstandings and outright disagreements have caused fissures among even those friendly with each other — not to mention between many of themselves and the mayor.

While it has been stunning to see how direct some of the barbs have been, the guess here is cooler heads will eventually prevail and working relationships be mended. Or at least, they better.

Brodeur didn't leave Beacon Hill for one term as mayor, and there's not going to be another nine new councilors after the next election. The legislative and executive branches of the city government have to work together to get things done over the long term.

Brodeur is not going to take things personally. If and when a compromise on this free cash situation is found, both sides will move on to the next thing. That's how this works.

The more lasting impact may be on reputations, which isn't lost on anyone involved. In a relatively small community, being branded anti-cop or racist is especially painful. The binary reaction may be unfair, but it's the world we live in right now.

The sticking point won't be the bias training funding; It'll be the police weapons upgrade. Which side will give in on that? There are still some bridges to cross.

Our prediction is both sides, still smarting over the reaction from a messy showing last week, extend some olive branches before the next Council meeting ends.

What we have here is: A failure to communicate?

A developing criticism toward Brodeur's administration is poor communication.

Brodeur has been far more digitally savvy than his predecessors with frequent Twitter updates, text messages and an almost nightly YouTube update (though don't sleep on Mayor Gail Infurna's popular blog updates!) But there's a difference between communicating your message and engaging in communication.

Patch has heard from a good many people — city officials (including Brodeur's supporters,) business owners, residents — who over the course of months have expressed frustration at the administration's response time, if a response comes at all.

Brodeur campaigned on communication and transparency. In a way, he's delivered. But while the administration is proficient issuing press releases and Facebook announcements, it opens itself to unnecessary criticism by providing last-second, late or no information.

This and that

Related to all the above: It's going to be interesting to see how an effort on getting more information about the city's Emergency Fund plays out. The order is being put forth by Councilors Shawn MacMaster and Jeff McNaught, who offered some of the most biting criticism of the administration last week. Part of the order asks for details on spending for the three months after the coronavirus really took hold on the city. One related story from this week is the city putting in for nearly a half-million dollars in COVID-19 spending reimbursements ... Cripes, can someone start a GoFundMe for a digital recorder for these city meetings? Two times in a month important deliberations were cut short — and yes, it's the right decision, but still a bit silly to consider ... It's still impressive to think the city handed out five masks to every household in Melrose. Health Director Ruth Clay, who took a beating during the aforementioned Brazil Street fiasco, should get credit for being at the forefront of the coronavirus response for Melrose and Wakefield ... It's heartening to finally see progress at the old Coffee, Tea & Me building and the soon-to-be Cafe Nero. But a little farther down the street, the Caruso's situation remains a downright embarrassment for Melrose and everyone involved with that building. The graffiti on it now isn't exactly the local street art many were hoping for ... Sad to see Gabriella's go — they may have sneakily had the best grab-and-go slices in town — but wait until you try Tenóch ... Nom-nom's of the week: The peach cobbler from Buckalew's, graham central station ice cream from Kennedy's, fried clam bellies from Liberty Bell and more muffins from Jitters. (Do we need to mention our daily Dunkin'?) And can we sneak in the maple dijon chicken wrap from Cibo, just over the line in Wakefield?