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** Please note office hour this coming Sunday, June 23 from 9-10 am at Cafe Fresh Bagel in Framingham Centre. **

It is hard to believe that it is nearly summer and the school year is over. It was an incredibly busy Spring in the City Council. Several highlights:

First, the Finance Subcommittee of the City Council considered the Mayor’s proposed budget, made amendments, and forwarded on our budget recommendation to the full City Council for its discussion at tonight’s meeting. I am proud of the work that the Finance Committee did in the short time we had to work on the budget. The Mayor released her budget on May 2 so we only had about a month to dig into department requests and look for ways to reduce the burden on taxpayers without a negative impact on services. Finance Subcommittee Chairman, George King, did a great job leading us in this effort and we made some progress within the context of reducing spending and also understanding the fiscal challenges the city will face in future years, in particular around state-mandated stormwater management.

However, I feel that we only really scratched the surface of the budget because of the brief period of time that the Finance Subcommittee is allotted by the Framingham Charter. I also think that the Mayor and her team did not go far enough in terms of digging into department operations and nudging division and department leadership to find efficiencies in the budget. Good times in terms of revenue over the past decade have made it too easy for budgets to become bloated – not because of bad management, but just as the side effect of an emphasis on improved services without strong external spending constraints. Little things like employee cell phones and cars, printer paper and toner, and bigger ticket items such as new positions add up. I am hopeful that each year we will do a better job finding and paring down these excessive expenses.

Two particular budget issues will demand attention tonight. First, the City Council will discuss the Mayor’s request to fund a Diversity and Inclusion Officer. I personally think that we have a lot of work to do around diversity in Framingham and hope that we will give the green light to this position. Second, we will consider whether to increase the school budget to reflect the School Committee request, which is consistent with increased state funding. I will argue that the School Committee has made a reasonable funding request and that we should support it.

Second, the City Council and Mayor successfully nominated 13 members of the first ever Youth Council of the City of Framingham. This advisory group consists of 13 young people from the ages of 13-22 and will represent the interests of young residents of our city. One especially exciting element is that this idea was initially researched and proposed by a young woman, Isabella Petroni, who is a Framingham High School student. In addition, this is the first citizen-proposed ordinance in the city’s short history. Thank you to Isabella!

The Education Subcommittee of the City Council and the Youth Council will have a joint meeting at 6 pm on June 25th before the full City Council Meeting. This will be a chance for us to provide some guidance to the Youth Council as they begin to organize, elect their leadership, and develop ideas for topics to address.

Third, the Council voted to create a Welcoming Immigrants task force, an idea presented by District 7 city councilor Margareth Shepard. I have volunteered to serve with this group, which is tasked with developing a resolution to reflect our city’s appreciation for our immigrant community. In addition to being a moral issue, this is also going to be key as we head into a census year in 2020. It is absolutely essential that we count every resident of Framingham regardless of immigration status. Federal and state government funding and our political representation depend on it. The only way that we will be able to count every person is if our immigrant residents feel comfortable as valued members of our community and the welcoming ordinance can help make that case.

I was frustrated at the slow pace in forming this committee, but I am happy to say that the Mayor’s team is currently organizing our first meeting, which will take place this summer.

A more challenging, but absolutely essential, issue to get right is the redevelopment of Nobscot Plaza and I encourage you to share your thoughts on the future of that area with me. We now have a concrete plan from the owner of the Plaza and to me, it is a reasonable compromise – some residential construction balanced with commercial opportunities. I would be happy to move this plan forward quickly.

However, the zoning proposal that we will consider tonight goes beyond the plaza to parcels on the North side of Water Street and South on Edgell Road. I have yet to hear a clear explanation of the implications of the proposed zoning on these parcels. I would not want to see 3 story apartment buildings all around every side of the Water/Edgell/Edmands intersection for a number of reasons, but most importantly traffic. I want to see the Plaza move forward, but we at least need to know the potential implications of the proposed zoning on the surrounding area.

Also, please note that all City Council meetings are now on Facebook Live. This means that if you are Facebook user, you can watch our meetings from a smartphone, tablet, or your computer and receive notifications when our meeting is about to go live. To make sure you receive these notifications, visit our facebook page at htttps://www.facebook.com/framinghamcitycouncil/ and like or follow the Framingham City Council.

Events coming up:

Tuesday, June 18 at 7:15 pm – City Council Meeting

Sunday, June 23 at 9:00 am – Office hour at Cafe Fresh Bagel

Tuesday, June 25 at 6:00 pm – joint meeting of the Youth Council and Education Subcommittee of the City Council; 7:15 pm – City Council meeting

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

–Adam

asteiner@framinghamma.gov