City Council President Urges Councilors to Not Repeat or Speak for Lengthy Times

The meeting started with Public Comment, and the main issues brought up by residents is the prices of rent and the proposed 2 percent surcharge that the commonwealth wants to add to real estate transactions.

“$1500 on Linden Street and the place is a dump,” said one resident about where her son lives with roommates in a place that they can afford. ” I think it’s ridiculous. The prices are too high.”

On the issue of the surcharge tax, a resident spoke in favor of it, saying, in part: ” A potential $5,000 increase on the sale of a house is not going to deter the upper middle class folks fleeing the conservative states or the folks who are leaving major cities, including Boston, from buying in Holyoke.”

Former City Councilor José Maldonado Vélez, now an organizer with Neighbor to Neighbor, reported that some rents have increased by $400 and $500.

“The idea that individuals and families are being priced out of their homes is completely unacceptable,” he said. “Something that we need at this moment [is] to figure out our housing. I hope you can join me in a message to the landlords saying we’re not going down without a fight. ”

He urged the City Council to create an Office of Tenants Protection, as proposed by Mayor Joshua García.

City Councilor Patti Devine proposed a motion to commend Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt for his 31 years as a servant of the city. It was passed unanimously.

City Councilor David Bartley expressed impatience with how councilors move agenda items around from their natural order (Item 1, Item 2, etc.)

“Why are we playing Russian Roulette with the agenda when we have councilors chiming in? Take up 87, take up 84, take up 90. This is no way to run a meeting, ” he said, referring to City Councilor President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti, who as head of the City Council, manages the meetings but cannot debate any item.

Murphy-Romboletti showed her own impatience with the council members who talk for long periods of time, including repeating themselves and other councilors, extending the public meetings deep into the evening. Earlier this year, the council voted to stop meetings at 10 pm unless a majority voted to continue the meeting in 15-minute increments.

“I also would like to implore the body to maybe keep it a little briefer at some of our meetings. the purpose of a 10 p.m. deadline was approved by this body, and the purpose of that was to make the meeting shorter. Now, with all due respect, I can try my best to control what everyone talks about. But I’ve also been told I don’t have the authority to do that. So I’m trying to keep this meeting to under 10 p.m. and I can respect that. There’s councilors who are well within their right to ask that something gets taken out of order. And I’m going to be honest, I don’t like doing it that way. I doubt our clerk loves doing it that way.

“It’s not ideal, right? But that being said, I’m one person and we don’t have time limits on how long you’re all allowed to talk. So that’s on you to kind of dig deep within yourself and find a way to keep this a little shorter and maybe not repeat everything that’s discussed already at committee. So with that being said, I’m happy to enforce a little bit more.  And I think, honestly, a running clock might be a great idea so that everyone knows how long we’re all talking about a certain order. And I’m going to take up time right now to reiterate this, because that’s not on me. I don’t even get to debate. So all of you, we have all due respect, try to just be a little briefer and then we probably wouldn’t have this problem.”   City Council President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti

To review the agenda, click here.

To review the documents, called a packet, that the councilors received, click here.