It has been a busy month and I can’t believe we are in the home stretch of the school year. It is amazing to think that in September, I was in the heart of my city council campaign and my girls were starting a new school year in 5th and 6th grade – and my wife Kerry was starting her second year in the Weston Public Schools.

I have to give a special thank you to the amazing teachers and administrators at Hemenway and Walsh. Our daughters have been Hemenway students for 6 years each and we have always felt they were well taken care of and supported. Our older daughter, Nora, started her first year of middle school at my alma mater – Walsh – and I was very nervous about the challenges of middle school. The teachers and administrators have been amazing in terms of supporting Nora and calming the fears of her anxious parents.

I know that this terrific experience is typical of what students receive every day in the Framingham Public Schools. We are truly blessed to have such a great school system.

Here are a few Framingham highlights from this past month for me and my family:

On April 28, I volunteered at the Framingham Police gun buyback. This great event took 132 guns out of circulation insuring that they will not lead to a tragic situation. Later that day, I went to the Earth Day festival in Framingham Centre, which was a huge success. It helped that the weather was so beautiful that day!

On April 29, I took Nora and her friend to the Red Sox game. If you are taking kids to the Red Sox, I definitely recommend the family sections in the left field grandstand – easy entrance and departure from the stadium, no alcohol, and a nearby family bathroom.

Saturday, May 5 was an all day finance committee meeting, part of our attempt to address the tight budget timetable. We had departments in all day to present their budgets and take questions.

On May 26, Nora and I helped to plant flags at Edgell Grove Cemetery and on Monday, the 28th, I attended the Memorial Day ceremony in Nevins Hall.

My younger daughter, Maggie, has been in Australia for the past two weeks with my mother in law and is coming back tomorrow night. She has had an amazing experience, but it will definitely be nice to have her back home.

I also want to acknowledge the passing of State Rep. Chris Walsh early in May. I only knew Chris for a few years through Town Meeting and the first city election, but I feel a tremendous loss without him in Framingham. Chris was always helpful and willing to listen and offer advice. His compassion, support for the arts, and appreciation for open space will always be with me.

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Here are a few notes on our recent council meeting:

Items of note from May 1 included:

• Team Framingham visited the City Council to be recognized for their amazing performance in the Boston Marathon. All of our runners finished the race despite the brutal weather conditions and the team raised nearly $100,000 for local charities.
• Mike Tusino, the Building Commissioner, stopped by to talk about his department’s code enforcement and efforts to control blight in Framingham. It is clear that we need to tighten our blight enforcement in particular with our underused shopping plazas.
• Peter Sellers, DPW, presented the challenge of double telephone poles in Framingham. This ongoing issue will require continual attention and pressure on Verizon.
• Mayor Spicer and CFO Mary Ellen Kelley presented the Mayor’s FY 2019 budget proposal, which was then referred to the Finance Committee of the City Council. The Mayor’s budget called for a 2.25% increase in the tax levy this year and relatively small increases in most departmental budgets.

Items of note from May 15 included:

• We had a presentation from Jeffrey Lieberman, CEO of Metrowest Medical Center. Mr. Lieberman shared the hospital’s efforts as a business, as an ally to the community, and in addressing the opiate epidemic in our area.
• Eversource was asked to explain their unacceptable response and communication during the series of storms and power outages last winter. The Council made it clear that Eversource will have to address major areas of weakness in communication and response before the next big storm arrives.

Committee Updates

Finance Committee:

The Finance Committee completed our review of the Mayor’s proposed budget and voted on several recommendations that will now go to the full council. Specifically, we proposed several spending reductions and a shift of free cash from reserve accounts back to the taxpayer. The set of amendments in total would reduce the tax levy increase to about 0%. I have to thank the other members of the finance committee for working so hard to get this done: Chairman George King, Judy Grove, Mike Rossi, and Charlie Sisitsky.

The Mayor’s budget and our proposed amendments will now go to the full council for discussion and votes at our next meeting on Tuesday, June 5.

Rules Committee:

Our proposed Council code of conduct was approved by the council on May 15. This policy will help to guide the behaviors of councilors and members and applicants to the various committees and task forces under the guidance of the City Council.

Marijuana Task Force:

The marijuana task force is a group made up two councilors – Mr. Rossi, serving as chair, myself, the police and fire chiefs, the health director, planning board administrator, a designee from the Mayor’s office, and an advocate. It is our job to develop a set of recommendations for the marijuana industry, which can then be presented to the full Council for approval.

The fundamental question we are tasked with answering is the number and location of marijuana establishments including retailers, cultivation and manufacturing facilities, and testing laboratories. I encourage anyone with feelings on the issue to contact me directly by e-mail, phone, or during office hours – or to come to a task force or city council meeting and speak during public participation. The marijuana industry represents a unique economic opportunity for Framingham and it must reflect the needs and interests of Framingham residents.

We are close to wrapping up the work of the marijuana task force and passing a series of recommendations on to the Planning Board and the City Council. Please continue to send me your feedback on the future of adult use marijuana in Framingham.

Upcoming events I will attend:

June 2 Democratic State Convention

June 9 Chris Walsh Remembrance Ceremony

June 10 Flag Day Parade

June 16 Metrofest

June 21 Skatepark grand opening

I hope that this newsletter was helpful. Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or concerns.

Thank you for subscribing!

–Adam

asteiner@framinghamma.gov