Minutes Dec 12, 2021

Zoom Conference – 7:00pm

Meeting Attendees 

Members: Mike Hugo, Robert Case, Beverly Hugo, Barbara LeDuc, Larry Stoodt, Cesar Stewart-Morales, Adam Steiner, Mel Warshaw, Norma Shulman, Chris Lorant, Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley, Kurt Fusaris, Margareth Shepard, Kathie McCarthy, Tracey Bryant, Jack Patrick Lewis, Christopher Broyles, Jim Stockless, Jeanne Bullock, Mary Kate Feeney, Jim Hansen, Adam Freudberg, Doug Lawrence, Patrick Dunne, Thom Mahoney, Lori Bornstein, Cindy Rubin, Ohad Klopman, Ricky Finlay, Maria Robinson

 

Associate Members: Cheryl Gordon, Mayor Dr. Yvonne Spicer, Priscila Sousa, Tilia Jacobs, Andrew Machkasov, Isabella Petroni, Joel Winett

 

Guests: Rep. Danielle Gregoire, Liam Horsman, Chris Dempsey, Diane Markowitz, James Thrasher

  • Welcome, Announcements and Updates – Chair Mike Hugo
  • The chair reviewed the agenda and called the meeting to order at 7:03pm.
  • The chair reviewed the rules of decorum expected during the meeting.
  • The chair announced there has been an additional resignation and there will be three seats open in January, so we will wait until our January meeting to have our membership election. 
  • Meet State Auditor Candidate Chris Dempsey, 
  • (Q&A time available and may affect remaining time slots)
  • The chair introduced Chris Dempsey, candidate for State Auditor.
  • Candidate Dempsey introduced himself and shared why he is running for State Auditor. He presented his background and experience and asked for the support of our Committee.
  • Candidate Dempsey explained the role of State Auditor and why it is an important office in MA State Government. He presented his plans on how he will run the office if he is elected.
  • There was a Q&A session with the candidate that followed.

 

  • Acceptance of Minutes of September & November Meetings – Rob Case, Secretary (See attached)
  • Motion to accept the Nov 21 and Sept 19 minutes by Kathie McCarthy; seconded by Rozzy Hooper-Hamersley .
  • There was no discussion; motion approved unanimously.


  • Treasurer’s Report – Larry Stoodt, Treasurer  
      • As of Nov 11th, the starting balance was $3,995.67; received interest of $0.17, giving us an ending balance of $3,995.84.
      • 1 full time member who has not paid, 2 associate members, and 2 lifetime members who have not paid their dues yet.
      • If you are not able to pay your dues, just let the Treasurer know.
  • Motion to accept the report by Kathie McCarthy ; seconded by Mel Warshaw.
  • Motion approved unanimously. 
  • Reports from Municipal Elected Officials (City Council, School Committee, Mayor)
  • City Council:
        • Adam Steiner – the Council is winding down its business for the year; the Finance Subcommittee is meeting this week to discuss the Collective Bargaining Agreements that have been settled ; the Capital plan for the next five years has been submitted and it will be voted on after the regular budget. A number of capital projects have been put on hold or slowed down due to the pandemic, but it is important to pay attention to these items and make sure that we are supporting these areas that need to be caught up.
  • Robert Case – barring any emergency meetings before the end of the year, next week will be his last meeting as a City Councilor. The last two years have gone by very quickly but thank you to everyone on the FDC for their support and thank you to the residents and voters of District 5 who allowed him the honor to serve and represent them on the City Council.
      • Cesar Stewart-Morales – thanked everyone for their support and reviewed the new municipal districts that were recently passed. These new city districts really take effect for the November 2023 election.
      • Tracey Bryant – no report.
      • Margareth Shepard – thanks everyone for their support during the last four years, and she hopes we can continue with the progress we have achieved as a city.

A motion to support of vote of thanks for retiring Councilors Margareth Shepard (4 years on the Council) and Robert Case (2 years on the Council) was made by Patrick Dunne; seconded by Tracey Bryant.

  • Discussion was held:
      • Tracey Bryant – thank you to Margareth and Robert for their experiences, individuality, and voices shared on the Council. We appreciate everything you have both done.
  • Priscila Sousa – thanked her outgoing district councilor in District 5 and a social thanks to Margareth as a pioneer in the Brazilian community opening the doors for other Brazilians to continue to serve our city.
  • The motion passed unanimously.


  • Mayor Dr. Yvonne Spicer:
    • Asked for a moment of silence to recognize the devastation and lives lost in the Midwest due to the tornadoes.
    • She thanked the Democratic Party for their support, and she thanked her parents for teaching her to use her voice and the importance of voting.
    • She is grateful for the lives that have influenced her and grateful for the opportunity to touch so many other lives.
    • First time in a location where black and brown people were not represented in the local government as much, but a major strong point of Framingham is we are a city who knows how to care for each other.
    • Being a teacher is the one job that prepared her extensively to be the first Mayor of Framingham.
    • She thanked those who supported her and encouraged her in the times of adversity.
    • Over 74% of residents are vaccinated against COVID and it was a team effort to get there.
    • She will continue to push and fight for Framingham even after she is out of office.
    • She wished her successor well and much success as he transitions into office.
    • Framingham will receive $26.9 million in federal funds, and she is proud to have been a part of the group of Mayor’s who made that possible.

 

  • School Committee:
      • Adam Freudberg – yesterday was the second dose clinic at Harmony Grove held for 5–11-year-olds – data will be released to the public soon on these efforts; recess will double for the rest of elementary school children in January and February; last meeting of School Committee is this Wednesday and will include the Superintendent’s goals for this next year.
  • Beverly Hugo –  we will be welcoming our new elected members in January; collective bargaining with Unit A which are teachers and nurses; there are two finalists for the Assistant Superintendent of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and there will be a public meeting to meet them; received an update on the expansion of our pre-school goal. And the direction of world languages.
  • Ricky Finlay – thank you to all those who are leaving and who have served during the last two years during the pandemic and thank you to the residents of District 2 who have supported him.
    • Priscilla Sousa – we are in the aftermath of the pandemic and looking forward to welcoming new school committee members who have children in the district; focused on constituent services and has been exploring simultaneous translation of meetings to make the school committee accessible to every parent in Framingham.

 

  • Report from our House Delegation, – Rep. Jack P. Lewis, Rep. Maria Robinson, Rep. Carmine Gentile, Rep. Danielle Gregoire, Sen. Pres. Karen Spilka  
  • Rep. Danielle Gregoire – Rep. Robinson and Rep. Gregoire’s office suite area had a pipe burst and their offices are flooded at this point; looks forward to meeting in person; the issue of transparency in the State House is a false narrative and there are a lot of missing pieces in that conversation; Chairman Moran ran the redistricting process 10 years ago and ran it this time as well; MA was the only state 10 years ago to not have a lawsuit filed against it due to redistricting; to a certain extent state reps can have a conversation with the redistricting committee but ultimately the data is fed into a computer and it spits out a few different models and things can only be moved around slightly; due to waning population in the western and north shore populations districts in central MA were squeezed; a focus was to create several new Minority Opportunity Districts and that happened across the state including the new one created in Framingham; State Reps ultimately have limited opportunity to have a say when it comes to redistricting because each district is based on population and is required to fall within a certain percentage range of the total number of residents; Framingham will have more voices at the table advocating for it and that is always a better thing to have. She is not entirely sure but does not believe a special election will be held for Rep. Robinson’s seat as the deadline to pull papers to run is coming up in February – it will all be dependent on timing and how soon Rep. Robinson is confirmed.
      • Rep. Jack P. Lewis – redistricting is very complicated and he is not the person certain elected city councilors are making him out to be; if he had been able to draw new district lines he would make them so he didn’t lose almost 100% of his current Framingham district which is what is happening; out of the 2,500 holiday cards he is sending out to residents this year, he will no longer represent over 1,000 of them; he can assure everyone the things being said about him are not true and they should feel free to reach out to him directly to ask any questions; a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that the state and Governor decided to draw district lines separate from the municipal redistricting. 
  • Rep. Maria Robinson – announced her resignation of her ballot seat on the FDC to provide the opportunity for another seat to be opened up to allow maximum participation; Rep. Robinson will continue on as an ex-officio member of the FDC as a State Party Committee member.


  • Subcommittee Reports, discussions, actions and votes:
    • Bylaws – Mel Warshaw – no report
    • Communications –Jim Hansen – no report; hoping to have a meeting next week.
  • Civics Education – Beverly Hugo – worked closely with the Programming Co-Chair, Rozzy Hooper-Hamersley to perfect the proposed FDC mission and vision statements; the Civics Ed subcommittee meetings are changing to 4-5pm on Sundays before meeting.
  • Environmental/Climate Change – Larry Stoodt – no report; but with the tornadoes and the destruction in the center of the country and with unprecedented fires on the west coast if you are concerned you should join the next meeting of the Environmental Subcommittee.
  • Legislative – Doug Lawrence 
      • Moved future meetings to the 2nd Thursday of the month to accommodate member’s schedules.
      • Discussing further of The Fair Share Amendment will continue in January.
      • More discussion to be held on potential candidates for the new Minority Majority State Rep seats.
      • The committee will also be discussing the legislation involving the issue of double dipping into Social Security and the Teacher’s Retirement System.
      • Vote on Endorsement of H3843/S1185 An Act Relative to Dignity at Work (see materials)
  • Motion made to accept the Act Relative to Dignity at Work sponsored by Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis by Doug Lawrence ; seconded by Kathie McCarthy.
  • There was no discussion; motion approved unanimously.
        • Letter of our support will be sent to our entire delegation and elected city officials as well.
  • Outreach – Parwez Wahid – no report
  • Programming – Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley & Cesar Stewart-Morales 
    • Discussion of Mission/Vision Statement (Included in materials, please review)
    • There was robust discussion regarding word choice, word positions, definitions, and whether certain communities/issues were mistakenly being left out of this new mission statement. 
    • It was recommended, and the chair concurred, that the matter should be tabled until members have had the opportunity to email their concerns and recommendations to Rozzy Hooper-Hamersley for consideration and possible incorporation into a new draft of a proposed mission and vision statement.
  • Report from State Committee – State Committee Members
      • The caucus window is Feb 4th – March 12th; the chair appointed a Caucus Committee of the FDC officers, Norma Shulman, Jim Hansen, and Amanda Northrop.
  • Norma Shulman – we have to submit the date of our caucus by Jan 28; June 4th is the date of the convention in Worcester. This is a nominating convention, and it is important that you show up if you are elected to be a delegate – candidates are counting on you and your support. The Organizing Hub on Saturdays from 3-5pm is looking for volunteers and if anyone is interested in phone banking, please let Norma know. They have been making calls for important races across the country and will be starting to make calls to recruit former volunteers to reactivate for Together We Elect (formerly Together for 2020.)
    • We will have both a business meeting and a separate caucus.

 

  • Vote for new members, Introductions of Prospective Associate Members
    • The elections for full members have been postponed until January when there will be three elected seats.
  • Introduction of Prospective Associate Member – Diane Markowitz
      • Diane introduced herself and expressed interest in why she would like to become an Associate Member of the FDC. We will vote on Diane’s associate membership candidacy at our January meeting.
  • Vote on Associate Membership – James Thrasher
      • James re-introduced himself and expressed his continued interest in joining the FDC as an Associate member.
  • A motion was made to accept James Thrasher as a new associate member of the FDC made by Kathie McCarthy; seconded by Rozzy Hooper-Hamersley.
  • There was no discussion; motion passed unanimously.


  • Discussion of upcoming projects and scheduling
    • We will have an abbreviated business meeting on January 9th followed by a Candidate’s Night between the two candidates running for the District 3 Council seat in the Special Election being held on January 11th.
    • An outside guest will be the moderator for the Candidate’s Night.
    • The Special Election for District 3 will be held on January 11th and the district boundaries on Nov 2nd will still be in effect on January 11th. The City Clerk should release more details soon regarding mail in voting, etc.

 

  • New Business, member announcements, general announcements for the good of the order
      • If you are a member of a subcommittee please show up and review the list of which committees you are, or are not, a member of currently. We need to know who wants to continue working as a part of a subcommittee.
  • If a subcommittee does not have a quorum, they cannot conduct their meeting. It is important for everyone to show up. 
  • Adjourn
  • Motion to adjourn by Tracey Bryant ; seconded by Kathie McCarthy .
  • There was no discussion; motion approved unanimously.
    • The meeting was adjourned at 9:22pm

 

Special Note: If you or a loved one are experiencing any issues that we can help with during this extraordinary time please contact the Chair or any Officer and we will do all we can to get services or meet any needs that we can for that person, we would be honored to render discreet aid to anyone in need, to the best of our abilities.

Next FDC Meeting Date: January 9, 2021, at 7:00 PM