Board of Aldermen — 01/09/18 Page 11
Citizen’s Advisory Committee. We will miss having you there, but thank you. And | know we’ll continue seeing
you around.
Alderman Caron
Thank you for those kind words, but | think the big thank you’s go to our City Clerk, Trish, and Sue Lovering,
for getting everything put together, and also the fact that the school department came through for us to do the
pledge and the Star Spangled Banner. | didn’t know Mr. Joseph was here, but thank you for doing the pre-
ceremony music, that was excellent. | think this was the first time we decided to do wristband corsages for the
ladies, and hopefully you all appreciated it. | know Sue did, because she didn’t bleed as much trying to pin you.
On the note about snow plowing, it’s very difficult. We all have a perception of what our snow plowing situation
should be throughout the city, and | empathize with the speaker. But | would hope, as she mentioned, that with
the warm weather coming up for the next few days that our staff is getting out there and opening up those
drains, because we are expecting a major rain storm. We certainly don’t want any flooding and things like that.
But if you know that you have a manhole cover in your street — | know my husband went out and did the one
on our street — that will help BPW and everybody else. Fire and Police and BPW and all of those had a lot to
do with this cold weather, and considering it was a holiday when these bad storms came up.
Alderman Lopez
First, | just want to welcome my newer fellow Aldermen. | was a first-term Alderman last time, so | just wanted
to say don’t be afraid and don’t be intimidated. The City’s staff is very helpful; they'll walk you through
questions that you have. So don’t be afraid to ask. If you can’t figure out which City staff to talk to, then
definitely reach out to your fellow Aldermen; they’re also very helpful. Mayor Donchess is very accessible as
well. And the public is also very helpful. There is no way to keep track of everything that’s going on in your
community, so when the public is approaching you, sometimes they’re exasperated because they know of a
situation that you don’t, hence, affecting them particularly. But they’re also a very valuable source of
information. So, listen to them and try to do what you can. And if it seems like it's something you don’t
particularly know how to solve right away, then don’t be shy about reaching out to others.
To those who might have aspirations for future elections, | think getting involved in the City’s committees is
certainly a way to do that and get to know the process ahead of time, so you kind of know what you're getting
into.
| would like to extend thanks to Michael Joseph for being willing to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee,
and for being straightforward when he felt he needed to step down, because | think an important part of having
volunteers and committees is being able to maintain momentum and feel like everyone is there because they
want to be there and because they have the time to be there. It can be disconcerting to have a committee
where there are a lot of people who aren’t attending; being able to know your limitations and focus your efforts
and your enthusiasm is helpful in many, many ways. | would encourage others to consider how they can help
the city and volunteer, and also to be responsible about when you need to take on a different role.
| would like to echo Alderman O’Brien’s and the other Aldermen’s comments regarding Police and Fire during
this storm, and the holiday season. | had, unfortunately, occasion to witness multiple emergency events that
were responded to professionally, without complaint, and thoroughly each time. | appreciate the work that’s
being done and | just wanted to say that.
Alderman Dowd
| just wanted to send my condolences out to the Berman family. Judy and Dick were one of those families that
provided a lot of volunteer input to the city, and they were very well known in the real estate community. She
will be lost to the city.
| was at the Fireman’s meeting the other night as well, just because | hadn’t been to one before. The one thing
that struck me was that while we were waiting for the meeting to start, there was a fire in Lynn, Massachusetts,
