Board of Aldermen 12-28-2021 Page 36
Alderman Lopez
Okay. First, | would like to wish best of luck to all of my fellow outgoing Aldermen, as well as the best of luck to those of
us who have remaining, and those that are coming in. | would like to thank Alderman Caron for her service, particularly
for many years on the Board which don't add up because she told me when | was first an Alderman she was only 39. So |
haven't figured that out. But | appreciate working with you as well as all of you — Alderman Laws, Alderman Tencza,
Alderman Gathright, Alderman Schmidt. There are so many people. In fact, we should probably stop losing elections.
On a more somber note, | wanted to express my condolences to the friends and family of Paul Racioppi. Paul was very
involved in local arts events and community events downtown. | know he will be deeply missed by many members of the
community so | just wanted to express that. Thank you.
Alderman Caron
Yes, thank you. | just want to say thank you. It's been a long ride, since | was actually 16 and it's been challenging
sometimes but | think we have learned to work together and tried to make the best of our city. We may not always agree.
Sometimes you have to compromise but | think that's the way it should be.
I'm leaving because it was time to move on and let someone else step up to the plate and | know that all the new
Aldermen who are coming in will do a good job. I'm sure that those of you long standing Aldermen will be great mentors.
It's nice to Know that we have a lot of female aldermen because | remember when the first one came on board was Alice
Dube and she worked very hard to be a member of the Board when it was all gentlemen. So we've come a long way as
they say, you've come a long way.
The other thing I'd like to wish a condolences to a longtime classmate of mine, Sue McCarthy, who worked here at City
Hall for over 25 years. She lost her son before Christmas time due to an illness and we want to send out our sympathies
from her classmates and everyone around her to know that she's in our thoughts and prayers.
I'd like to wish you all a happy, safe, healthy holiday. Thank you.
Alderman Dowd
Yes, | want to wish all the departing Aldermen all the best. It's been a pleasure working with you and | certainly hope to
retain you as friends as we move forward. I'm certainly not going to let Alderman Caron that I’ve known since we won't go
back that far and | told her I'd keep her within an arm's length what we're doing. So she will stay knowledgeable whether
she likes it or not.
Happy New Year to everyone.
Alderman Klee
Thank you, Madam President. | want to thank Temple Beth today. They hosted a vaccination site and based on what I've
heard from my constituents and those outside of Ward 3, it was very successful. The wait was minimal at best. They
were live streaming to let people know if there were lines and so on. So | think it worked out really, really well and I'm
happy that they were able to do that. You were able to get the boosters - all ages, everything was there.
| want to wish everybody Happy New Year.
| want to kind of clarify something. The confidential e-mail that did come from Attorney Bolton was received on 12/20 just
for clarification on that.
I'd like to thank all of my colleagues - those that are leaving, the seven of you that are leaving, you’re really going to be
missed. We've become friends over these past four years and | really hate to see you all go. Speaking to the women,
we've lost three in total so there will be four women on the Board. | would have liked to see more. We had done a good
job of keeping it a little bit more even but there's two more years. Thank you and everybody have a Happy New Year.
Alderman O’Brien
Thank you, Madam President. |, too, would like to send best wishes to my fellow colleagues on the Board who this is your
last meeting. You done good. It was a pleasure to serve with you and a special fond goodbye to Ottoman Laws,
Alderman Tencza, and Alderman June Caron who evidently, I'm glad I'm still here as | got 35 years on the Fire
