Oct. 1 Meeting Minutes

Meeting for Sept 3, 2025 IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee Henrickson, Fran Fistori, Richard Reid, Dan Trout, David Lynch, Al Davis, Derek Salamone BPD, Bill Hallissey BPD, Sam Audi Bassam, Jed Hresko, Pires Brothers, Jean-Bradley Derenoncourt, Vinny Colarusso Scott opened with Old Business, see June posting. Greg announced Treasurer report. Sgt. Hallissey said busy police summer with meetups at Barbour Corp., house parties, no traffic enforcement officer, down 25-30 officers, no detective after midnight. We need more police candidates, need to drop residency. Schoolbuses are owned by the city, labor issues though. Richard Reid first candidate in attendance spoke. Has small business and education background and he is a Canadian import who came to the U.S. to be a small business owner. His application for citizenship experience has been prolonged and fairly difficult. Transparency in government function and small business as important factor is society mentioned. Social service functions from nonprofits being overly restricted would help feed and shelter homeless. Entities working together and new blood will help Brockton. Property tax assessments review vs. tax rate. Two-way Main St. traffic. Study after study, just get it done. Make Brockton a better place than before. Jean Bradley Derenoncourt mayoral candidate told his history here from Haiti post-hurricane, Christo’s worker, English language learning, Brady rep and senator assistant, investigator for state auditor; Brockton receivership possible, as only city in Plymouth County, irresponsible fiscal policies for this city, incompetence in city hall, impossible to fine homeless individuals and stands by his vote as such in council, putting own money into his campaign, city audit should cover every department by Diana DiZoglio the state auditor, we cannot afford to buy Aquaria, get back to education quality, public safety, traffic enforcement, business retention. Public servancy, disciplined, honest, fair, the citizens should be telling the government what needs to be done, not the opposite. Example that library hours should not be cut as citizens need these services. He admits the way to learn about city functions is to ask every department head what their purpose is. David Lynch asked about meeting with business owners, clergy, police, fire and JBD said yes. Backed up non-residency of police candidates. Combine school and city police into one unit. Jed Hresko candidate for councilor-at-large lives downtown and purchased a condo in 2019 there, coming from Boston. Jed devotes his extra time in addition to being an accountant and from a small business family to city issues. Some of his thoughts: Drug dealers among homeless need to be arrested and prosecuted, traffic enforcement needed, speed bump installation, force slowdown of drivers to help pedestrian injury and death. Very knowledgeable about statistics and cost-effective ways to make Brockton safer. Physical interventions needed. Files 150+ see-click-fix reports per year. Dumping issues. Carries brush clippers to clean up growth impeding signs. Vague duty descriptions between city departments leave more debris. Assign 2 fulltime DPW cleaners to clean up the city. Inspectional services does not seem to be unified in purpose to make Brockton cleaner. Strong city manager to delegate to departments. Examples of mayor not following through with promised downtown meetings and not holding department heads responsible. DPW note: go online and sign and pay to have bulky items removed. $20 per piece. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

Date: Sept 3 . meeting at Tinray's 6 PM Gust Speakers : We invited candidates to our meeting to give us their platform and how they will support small businesses. 

Grace Thompson Intern - Small Business

MONTELLO BUSINESS ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES FOR June 11th, 2025 IN ATTENDANCE: Scott Dwyer President, Greg Belcher Treasurer, Lisa Waitt Belcher Secretary, Councilor Phil Griffin, Derek Salamone BPD, Gale Lutz-Henrickson and Lee Henrickson, Francia Monteiro representing new member Rockland Federal Credit Union, Moises Rodrigues with one more, Sam Audi Bassam, Lt. Paul Gurney PFD, Fran Fistori, David Lynch, Al Davis, Jeff Smith, Pires Brothers Adelino Pires and Procopie Pires and Manny Pires, Fred Fontaine, Councilor Shirley Asack, Atty. Phil Nessralla, Vinny Colarusso, Jeff Charnel candidate for Councilor at Large and resident of Ward 7, state Rep. Rita Mendes, Paul Stewart with one more from Home Café, Atty. Jay McLaughlin. See below added names invited to join and/or speak. Scott opened with Old Business, see last month posting. Greg announced Treasurer report. Discussion started about the Father Bill’s at former armory on West Chestnut St. Building completely redone for sheltering homeless. City reps said no local approval was needed for this project. Now the area is loaded with debris and trash. Note to self: reach out to state and national legislators about this. Guest speaker Moises Rodrigues Councilor at Large and Candidate for Mayor: He spoke about his past, 12 years in Brockton politics, graduated from Brockton High School in 1980, served in the U.S. Navy for 6 years. Served as interim Mayor for 7 months when Mayor Carpenter died unexpectedly. Montello has been special to him: connections to Cape Verdean Association and church. Business coming into Brockton is great idea but we need to support the existing businesses. Homeless population here is 60% from outside of this city. Shared some of his discussions with homeless: some choose to be homeless, not liking rules, not taking services offered. Brockton young students have to contend with walking to school passing the homeless, needles, trash. Tough love and making some discomfort might motivate some of them. Police have been told to leave them alone. DPW spends hours cleaning every day with the same result of debris and rubbish by the next day. Businesses are leaving the city because of this. Code enforcement here has only 2 officers. The nice guy attitude is not working; homeowners and businesses pay taxes; having a sewer system and gas utility available should be attractive to businesses. Monthly citizen advisory meetings for the public to attend and voice concerns should be implemented. First order of business: homeless issue, secondly Aquaria water backup plant was never purchased to gain control and make money, not waste money paying for nothing all these years; sewer expansion could possibly help the city as well. MWRA closest connection is Blue Hills in Canton. That option is not feasible. Moises spoke well and hopes to be successful in his quest to be mayor because he is dedicated to Brockton. He emphasized action over talk and having the numbers of people to band together to take action. David Lynch said cleanup of the city would help, street by street, agreed to by Moises. Brockton Community Development Officer Francia Monteiro spoke for Rockland Federal Credit Union. She is promoting its presence at Westgate Mall for in-person service and businesses banking options. State Rep. Rita Mendes reported on meetings with business owners with regards to immigration and the gathering/arrests/deportations and is open to answer questions, acknowledging that I.C.E. is a federal agency. Rita proposed a bill to adjust auto insurance premiums based on a new zipcode and calculations. She updated us that the representatives have to be in person at the statehouse; senators can still attend by zoom. David Lynch questioned selloffs of Salvation Army-owned parcels and what will be allowed on these properties. Shirley Asack has been working with debris and rubbish issues at Salvation Army, Westgate Lanes, and other properties at the Mall. Unfortunately the problem is continuous, lots of mattresses left on sidewalks all over. Tagging such items and placement liens on properties is being done. Dairy Queen did not get license for drive-thru. Jeff Charnel is chairman of the License Commission. It may be revisited in the future. Jeff Smith for D.A. office stated community court at Library hoping for September opening; resources will be available for rehabilitation close by; hoping it becomes a resource for more of the homeless as well. Community service component might help all around. BFD Paul Gurney spoke briefly, reflecting the department faces the same issues. BPD Derek Salamone said one academy graduate coming in and 5 or 6 more prospects, 14 potentials for August. 30% of department is 4 years or less, retirement barely balanced by new hires. One cruiser dedicated to writing tickets running out of ink. Citizens Police Academy graduated 20 to enlighten residents about the law enforcement process; trying to hold this once a year. Look for him on city police website as a resource. Motorcycle issue mentioned, all aware of the issue; focused intensive operations will hopefully help curb activity. Speaking of motorcycles, rumors of sale of police bikes will be investigated. Meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m.

Date: June 11th meeting at Tinray's 6 PM Gust Speakers : Moises Rodriques Councilor at Large and Candidate for Mayor and Francia Monteiro Rockland Federal Credit Union

Date: Meeting Changed from June 4th to Wed. June 11th at Tinray's 6 PM

Hello neighbor, 

Hello neighbor, 

Welcome New Member : Francia Monteiro - Community Development Officer