Committee Report - Leg Matters - 11-19-15 — File 200306

Legislative Matters Committee Page 1 of 2 Printed 11/23/2015 November 19, 2015 REPORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE MATTERS COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Mary Jo Rossetti Chair Present Mark Niedergang Vice Chair Present Katjana Ballantyne Ward Seven Alderman Absent Matthew McLaughlin Ward One Alderman Present William A. White Jr. Alderman At Large Present Others present: David Shapiro - Law, Oliver Sellers-Garcia - OSE, Mark Levy - Assessing, Omar Boukili - Mayor’s Office, Charles Sillari - Clerk of Committees The meeting took place in the Committee Room and was called to order at 6:00 PM by Alderman Rossetti and adjourned at 7:15 PM. Document List: • Plastic Bag Draft Ordinance (with 198251) 197626: That the City Solicitor appear before this Board's Committee on Confirmation of Appointments to discuss the hiring of a Director of Recreation and Youth. Chairman Rossetti expressed her concern that the Chair of the Recreation Commission did not did not appear, as requested at the last committee meeting. Mr. Boukili stated that the Administration is not opposed to the Board’s concern over the hiring process and is willing to make the change. Alderman Rossetti’s motion that the City Solicitor prepare and forward to the Board of Aldermen and the Recreation Commission, an amendment to the Code of Ordinances to allow for Board of Aldermen approval of new hires, was approved. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 199553: Requesting revisions to the City Charter and Ordinances to adjust the threshold for written contracts to align with MA General Law.

Legislative Matters Committee Page 2 of 2 Printed 11/23/2015 RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 199726: Requesting amendments to Ordinance 2-369 to align the threshold for written contracts with MA General Law. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 199727: Requesting an amendment to the City Charter to align with a related proposed revision to the City Ordinances and with MA General Law regarding written contracts. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE 198251: Assistant City Solicitor submitting a proposed Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance. The committee examined samples of various plastic bags. Mr. Sellers-Garcia discussed the most recent revisions to the proposed ordinance and said that definitions need to be clear and that public education on the issue would be beneficial. Alderman White expressed his concern for small business owners who might have problems with compliance. Mr. Sellers-Garcia stated that the proposed ordinance would be enforced one year after its passage and he discussed the time line stores may need to adopt. Alderman Niedergang objects to the one year waiting period and believes that the environment is more important than the cost of bags purchased by a business. Mr. Boukili spoke about the need for a communication strategy and said that six months is not enough time. Seventeen percent of Somerville businesses contain over 10,000 square feet of space. Alderman White requested that the city provide assistance to businesses impacted by this ordinance. Alderman White would also like to give businesses 2 weeks to remedy an initial warning and asked that there be at least 2 weeks between the issuance of first and second offenses. The following change proposed by Alderman Niedergang was approved: • businesses of 10,000 s/f and larger shall have 9 months to comply and all other businesses shall have 12 months to comply. RESULT: APPROVED AS AMENDED 198630: Clint Richmond submitting comments re: the plastic bag ban. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED