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July 29, 2021 · 0 Comments By Constance Scrafield What are the duties and obligations that a town council has to its residents, the people who elected those members, to fulfill them? Is a town a business or responsible to people first? These were primary questions Councillor Todd Taylor brought to bear during an interview with the Citizen last week. We were sitting in a patio, sun overhead, enjoying a coffee at one of the fine coffee houses on Broadway. Coun. Taylor’s position with the town is part of the overhaul from the last municipal election in 2018, brought to the Orangeville Council. The election introduced new faces with fresh attitudes, as one might hope, to be judicious with the town’s finances and improve the town council’s relationship with the people living here. ....
Council President Roy Avellaneda proposed that the City look at a list of vacant parcels and investigate the ability of taking those properties in order to build more affordable home-ownership opportunities. On Monday night, Avellaneda said he knows the Council and the City have done as much as they can, but he feels like they should take the next step in looking at Eminent Domain takings. “I think we’ve done everything possibly allowed to the City Council,” he said. “I would argue that we can never do enough and one way is we could do like the City did years ago and use Eminent Domain and friendly takings. They did that with One North and Chelsea Clock to create economic development. Maybe we should look at other parts of the City…I don’t want to sit here and be reactionary to what’s going on with private development and don’t want my advocacy to be limited to testifying before the Zoning Board and then letting the market do what it does.” ....
City Councillor Giovanni Recupero could be investigated for alleged Civil Rights violations by City Solicitor Cheryl Fisher Watson after complaints lodged with the Council were forwarded to her Monday night – with the charges stemming from an incident where Recupero allegedly verbally harassed a 17-year-old member of the Youth Commission in the City Hall parking lot Feb. 23 following a controversial vote on removing the Christopher Columbus Statue. Giovanni Recupero Jr. spoke to defend his father, saying, “Do I look like the creation of a white supremacist?” Complaints came in quickly after the Feb. 23 meeting in regards to the tenor of comments from Recupero and Councillor Toddy Taylor – both of whom voted against taking down the statue in Chelsea Square – when Youth Commission members Brandon Garcia and Richard Flores gave testimony as part of their high school class and Youth Commission advocacy. Students and Chelsea High Teacher Ilana Ascher said they fel ....
Last summer’s firecracker frenzy that kept the City – and really the region – up for days at a time will not get an encore is Councillor Todd Taylor has his say, along with thousands of residents that called him and other councillors last summer. At Monday’s Council meeting, Taylor proposed a new amendment to the City’s noise ordinance that would all for a $300 fine on the first offense for anyone shooting off fireworks in the City. Such fines could be given out by the police, fire or ISD departments. “We do not want to have a repeat of last year,” he said. “We need to make the ordinance stronger to discourage this. I do think this was a major problem for our residents last year. I think I got dozens and dozens and dozens of calls, some in the same day about fireworks going off until 3 a.m. or later in the morning. There is ample will in the public to do this.” ....
The City is busy pushing out $1 million in small business grants to restaurants and small businesses in Chelsea this week, just as the federal government has approved much-needed funding for the state’s $668 million small business assistance program as well. The City began working on the Small Business Assistance Program last summer at the behest of Councillor Todd Taylor, and a Committee was immediately formed and led by Councillor Judith Garcia to identify funds and priorities for the program. City Manager Tom Ambrosino and the City Planning Department carried out the application process last month, and is now busy getting the money into the hands of COVID-19 affected businesses – both restaurants and general retail businesses. ....