Attorney Lisa Ball appointed City Solicitor

Attorney Lisa Ball of Holyoke was appointed to the Top Legal Job in the city by Mayor Pluta. She is slated to come up for a confirmation vote on February 16, 2010.   As promised in my previous meeting notes, I have attached Mayor Pluta's appointment letter and Attorney Ball's clearance letter from the Ethics Commission to serve in this capacity.

Meeting Notes from February 2, 2010 City Council Meeting

The City Council did not meet at its regularly scheduled meeting of January 19, 2010 because of the special US Senate election which elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA).  The Council met on February 2, 2010 and items of note are as follows:

Olivia Mausel was confirmed for her re-appointment to a 3 year term to the Historical Commission.
John McAndrew was confirmed for his re-appointment to a 3 year term to the Parks & Recreation Commission.
Marilyn Sanabria was confirmed for her re-appointment to a 5 year term to the Holyoke Housing Authority

The Mayor appointed Lisa Ball of Holyoke to be the new City Solicitor and her appointment was referred to the Public Service Committee for an interview.  Attorney Ball also filed an Ethics Commission statement with the Council which I will post on Holyoke First for review by the citizens.

Council approved a $30,000 Transfer request to fund the on-going Fiscal Year 2008 audit of the Treasurer's office.

Council approved a $6,000 Transfer request for additional part-time assistance in the Treasurer's office.

Council approved bond re-authorization for $2.8 million in municipal bonds at lower interest rates for the purpose of saving the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in interest charges.

Council approved 2 new taxi cab licenses for a taxi company in the city named Aaron's Transportation.

Council adopted a Resolution filed by Councilor Lisi in support of the Extended Producer Responsibility bill (H-833).  This law is already in effect in 20 states and the law is designed to enhance recycling efforts in the Commonwealth.  The Council resolution was a non-binding order encouraging adoption of the law by the state legislature.  The Resolution was adopted by a vote of 8 yea and 5 nay.  The roll call was:
Yes: Jourdain, Keane, Lisi, Lopez, McGiverin, O'Neill, Tallman, Vega
No: Devine, McGee, Murphy, Vacon, Welch
Absent: Leahy, Purington

The Council adopted a resolution commending James Lavelle, Manager of Holyoke Gas & Electric for receiving Buisness West's "Top Entrepreneur Award" for 2009. 

Councilor Jourdain Appointed Chairman of Redevelopment Committee!

City Council President Joseph McGiverin announced his appointments to all of the 5 Standing Committees of the City Council.  President McGiverin announced the return of 3 Chairs and the selection of 2 new Chairs.  He selected Ward 2 Councilor Diosdado Lopez to chair the Ordinance Committee and Councilor At Large Kevin Jourdain to chair the Redevelopment Committee.  Councilor Jourdain released the following statement upon selection for this important post, "Firstly, I have served with Councilor McGiverin for the past 16 years and I am very thankful to him for selecting me for this important chairmanship.  The City of Holyoke's future is tied to its ability to grow and develop.  The Redevelopment Committee will oversee a continued re-birth of our community economically and civicly and I am honored to support the numerous projects, such as the new high tech computing center, that are coming to Holyoke. I look forward to working with the other members of the committee and City Council, as well as, Mayor Pluta to deliver real results for the people of our great city!"  Councilors Lopez and Jourdain are 2nd and 3rd respectively in seniority on the City Council behind President McGiverin.  Councilor Jourdain also pointed out that he maintained his important seat on the powerful Finance Committee and will continue his Fiscal Watchdog role on that committee.

The 2010-2011 Committee Assignments

Ordinance: Lopez, O'Neill, Keane, Purington, Lisi
Finance: McGee, Tallman, Leahy, O'Neill, Jourdain
Public Safety: Devine, Tallman, Purington, Vega, Murphy
Public Service: Leahy, Welch, Lisi, Murphy, Vacon
Redevelopment: Jourdain, Welch, Keane, Vacon, Vega
(The first name listed is Chair and the second name listed is Vice-Chair)

Ad-Hoc Cmte on Personnel: McGiverin, Devine, Purington

Meeting Notes for January 5, 2010 Meeting

Our First Meeting as a newly constituted City Council with our 3 new members of Brenna Murphy, Aaron Vega and Linda Vacon was held on January 5, 2010.  Of note at the meeting was:

The City Council reappointed Deborah Brunelle as Assessor for a 3 year term.
Mark Naidorf was re-appointed to a 3 year term on the Water Commission.

The Council received a request from Mayor Pluta to create a PR24 position ($55,000) to create a 18 month assignment for a new Munis Administrator position.  This new position was sent to the Ordinance Committee.  It is argued that this position is needed in order to enable the city to upgrade its current Munis software and fully open up all of the many accountability features of the powerful Munis software program.

An additional request from the City Treasurer for $30,000 to continue the auditing of the Treasurer's office books was referred to the Finance Committee.

The City Council re-adopted its standing rules from last term for this term.  There was a discussion about changing the meeting time from 7:30pm to 7:00pm. An order to do this is currently in the Ordinance Committee. A motion was made to remove the time change order from committee by Councilor Devine. Her motion was defeated by a vote of 7 yea and 8 nay (10 was required).
Roll Call as follows:
Yes: Devine, Leahy, McGee, Murphy, O'Neill, Tallman, Vega
No: Jourdain, Keane, Lisi, Lopez, McGiverin, Purington, Vacon, Welch