he feels the City is lucky to have someone who does what Yem does and doing it the way
he does.
Councillor Colon Hayes asked Yem how he keep in communication with the constituents.
Yem explained he is constant communication with department heads and the Team in
the building and also the constituents are constantly updated on the City website and
through mailing in the City when and locations of streets where work will be done.
Councillor McDonald mentioned the MWRA grant funding and asked Yem how the lead
service line program is progressing and what can we do to support getting this moving to
complete with this excellent program in place.
Yem explained the city has secured approximately $1 million in EPA grant funding and a
25% grant/75% loan from the MWRA to support lead pipe removal, with sufficient
resources to complete the remaining work and residents still able to apply for assistance.
Information about the lead pipe removal program, including how to apply for loans and
grants, is available on the city website and through the Department of Energy, ensuring
residents are informed about available resources.The engineering department
coordinates lead pipe removal with other infrastructure projects, such as drainage and
roadwork, to optimize scheduling, stretch tax dollars, and minimize disruption to the
community. He feels he has the correct resources to get this project done.
Councillor McDonald expressed support for the program and requested updates on
progress and needs from the engineering department to ensure successful completion of
the initiative.
Councillor Colon Hayes mentioned the City Website has great information on the MWRA
and how to apply for assistance.
A motion was made by Councillor Colon Hayes, seconded by Councillor Condon,
that the Appointment be recommended favorably to the City Council. The motion
carried by a unanimous vote.
Director of Information Technology, said term to commence upon confirmation by
the City Council and expire on March 1, 2029.
Anthony Rodrigues explained from his perspective I've been here long enough basically
touched a lot of stuff combining with one system creation to having this building being
designed having the privilege being able to watch our technology and our locations
change and knowing every wire in this building that's a currency at least for people who
do what I do. Being able to consolidate public safety financial operations in the city
education and getting everybody on the same page in terms of the technology footprint,
security footprint is difficult we have to consolidate things and make them as efficient as
possible. He said he has a great staff in the Police, Fire, School and City which makes
it easier as they can all migrate and makes the task of maintaining the technology great.
Councillor Crowe said today with everyone expecting everything to be online the digital
age even with Teams with easy accesibility having that infrastructure is pretty important.
Anthony explained we have massive infrastructure. The Police and Fire and public safety
is a different operational mission. The IT department strives for 99.9% uptime across all
city systems, including police, fire, and schools, with no major outages exceeding eight
hours, and employs efficient maintenance practices such as scheduled reboots and
proactive monitoring. Efforts are underway to consolidate public safety, financial, and
educational technology operations, optimizing economies of scale and ensuring
