happening in Malden so why not change the dynamic. Constituents are looking for where
are the cuts. These are just areas where we could negotiate it is just a suggestion to the
Mayor where we are open to cuts if necessary and are willing to negotiate.
Councillor Colon Hayes said she has spoken with constituents also and they are asking
about cuts in the budget. It is hard to make cuts ahead of receiving the budget it is
tough. We have not talked to Department Heads yet.
Councillor Winslow said he appreciates all the work everyone puts into the 4th of July and
explained his volunteers are more budget conscious than he is for the 4th of July and
they are doing a lot of buying things ahead of time. There are basic costs renting chairs,
bouncy houses but his concern is some volunteers are scared away by fundraising and
that is his concern. In Ward 6 his volunteers want to be independent of the Council he
has worked with them but they want to be independent they put out the notices. He
explained how improvement funds are used for essential neighborhood enhancements,
such as safety signs and dog park amenities, and expressed concern that eliminating
these funds would reduce the Council's ability to address local needs without relying on
the Mayor's office. He feels we should wait to see what the vote is and we might have to
be thinking on a whole different level. He is willing to follow the will of the voters.
Councillor O'Malley said this is a great conversation but changes in a future year might
be on the table. The 4th of July celebrations take a lot of planning and feels doing it this
fiscal year is a mistake. He doesn't feel is fair to take away these funds in the middle of
it while we are planning it and doesn't feel it's fair to each neighborhood but in the future it
could be feasible.
Councillor Condon there are a lot of cuts you can make you have to work twice as hard.
If you buy the sausages, burgers and hot dogs but have volunteers cook it you can save
money. It is important to have the celebration for the neighborhoods just scaling back
would help. If the override doesn't pass you do what you have to do. That's the best you
can do.
Councillor Luong explained that she spoke with residents this morning and they expect to
see budget cuts and more streamlined operations at City Hall, being cost cutting
regardless of the outcome of the override vote and she is hoping we are all thinking of
that moving forward . Even if this passes it gets us out of this situation but she will never
vote for another override we have to fix what we have coming forward and cut whatever we
need to cut and raise money economically and move forward the best we can. We still
need to streamline
Councillor Simonelli said to Councillor Luong we should wait till after the vote has been
taken and then we can streamline not doing piece mail here and there.
Councillor McDonald said from the Chair their perspective on this is it is helpful to say to
the public these funds are certainly ones we will have to cut if this doesn't pass and
thinks that is squarely within our purview and want to be clear that we want to say we are
open to cuts especially if this does not pass. With this specificity of this kind and it is
transparent and useful and even if it does pass it is worth considering. We need to see
what the community decides to do with these things. The Chair asked the committee if
they would like to fix the dollar amount of this paper first.
Motion to amend Paper 129-26 to change line items which could result in savings
of up to $95,000, reductions to line items associated with Ward Improvement
Funds and reductions to line items associated with Fourth of July Funds was
made by Councillor Sica seconded by Councillor Simonelli. All were in favor.
A motion was made by Councillor Sica, seconded by Councillor Luong, that the
