Gender policy
Ojeda asks to forgo salary
District 4 City Councilor Luis Ojeda, who was elected to his first term in November, submitted an order requesting City Manager Eric D. Batista use the funds that would otherwise be used for his annual city councilor salary to establish a community ambassador program.
In 2022, city councilors were paid $33,960. Ojeda is an assistant principal at University Park Campus School.
In addition to his own salary, Ojeda is asking Batista to consider allocating additional city funds in the fiscal 2025 budget to begin the program.
According to Ojeda’s request, the community ambassador program would be established in each of the city’s five council districts.
The program would be intended to allow for additional services to residents such as trash pickup, reaching out to the homeless population and implementing deescalation strategies.
Gender identity discrimination at shelters
Wednesday, demonstrators set up tents and heaters in the parking lot of the city’s downtown emergency winter shelter at the old Registry of Motor Vehicles building on Main Street.
They protested the lack of available space for the homeless population, particularly women, in the city.
The protesters said transgender people have also been turned away from the winter shelter, which is being operated by South Middlesex Opportunity Council.
That night, three were arrested after refusing to leave the homeless encampment, which was cleared. In a statement, Batista said none of the people arrested were homeless.
Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King is requesting Batista work with Dr. Matilde Castile, commissioner of health and human services, to ensure each shelter in the city establishes or adheres to a gender-identity nondiscrimination policy.
In addition, King is asking Batista to provide the City Council with draft language for a city ordinance that would consistently apply the nondiscrimination policy to shelters.
The shelter initially opened with 60 beds: 45 for men and 15 for women.
Batista and South Middlesex Opportunity Council officials spoke with state officials to receive emergency approval to increase capacity from 60 to 82 beds at the shelter, according to the statement from Batista.
Batista also said the number of beds reserved for men and women is based on Census data on the homeless population in the city.
Russell asks for financial accounting
District 3 City Councilor George Russell is requesting financial reports on two matters: A detailed financial report about work on the Ernest H. Johnson Tunnel and a report on the lease for Mezcal Tequila Cantina.
The tunnel, a one-way southbound tunnel going through Lincoln Square that connects Salisbury and Main streets, closed May 2023 for a Department of Public Works project that includes the removal of tiles from the ceiling and walls within the tunnel and a comprehensive structural analysis of the tunnel.
The city initially projected the work would finish in September, but the tunnel remains closed.
The report would include an accounting of work completed and work that will be done at the tunnel as well as the source of the project’s funding.
The tunnel is known for its role in the former Summer Nationals automobile event when the tunnel was filled with screeching tires and smoke from cars and motorcycles.
Russell also wants a report on the lease for Mezcal Tequila Cantina, located at the Major Taylor Garage at Major Taylor Boulevard. Mezcal’s lease ends in March.
The restaurant is moving to 11 East Central St., former home of the Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub.
The requested report would include information about how feasible conducting marketing for a future lease on the premises would be, an accounting of rents collected and due, and an accounting of all personal property purchased by the city and provided to a current tenant.