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City Council — January 21, 2026
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All right.
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Yes.
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I'm trying.
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Hey, listen, I try, I try.
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I offer more than water when you come to my house.
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Just let me know.
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So.
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All right, all right.
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No problem.
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So why would the police want to plan on being here tonight?
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Because the mayor's here.
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Oh, okay, just because the mayor's here.
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Any function that the mayor's at is our— that's our plan.
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Okay, okay.
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I'm saying this is a joint convention of the school committee and the city council.
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Okay.
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Anyone's okay.
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It's all already good, so just be careful.
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Thank you.
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Well, yeah, we wouldn't want that.
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That would be a downer.
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All right, good evening everybody.
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Welcome, uh, to the City Council chamber.
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At this time I will hand it over to the chairman of the session, the Mayor Jonathan Mitchell.
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All right, thank you, Mr. President.
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We'll start off this meeting as we always do, and that is with the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Please join me.
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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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All right, Mr.
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Clerk, when you are ready, could you take the roll?
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Councilor Ian Abreu.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Derek Baptiste.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Shane A. Burgo.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Naomi Carney.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Leo Choquette.
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Present.
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Present.
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School community member Melissa Costa.
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Present.
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Present.
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6:12
School Committee member Christopher Carter.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Brian K. Gomes.
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Present.
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Present.
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6:18
School Committee member Jack— Jaquim Libramento Jr.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Joseph P. Lopes.
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Present.
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Present.
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Mayor John F. Mitchell.
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Present.
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Present.
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School Committee member Yvonne Marie Meniz.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Sean Oliver.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Scott Pemberton.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor Ryan Pereira.
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Present.
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Present.
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School Community Member Richard Porter III.
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Present.
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Present.
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Councilor James Roy.
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Present.
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Present.
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17 members present, Mr. Chairman.
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Great, thank you very much, Mr.
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Clerk.
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Um, yeah, we'll do that in one, in one second.
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Um, so, uh, so we have a quorum tonight, and I just will start off before we, uh, launch into things with, uh, a a little bit of a review to let everybody know where we are in case folks who were here weren't here last time, or people who are watching didn't watch it the first time.
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So this is the second meeting of what is called a joint convention, which was a term under state law.
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A joint convention is convened in a city that has a form of government that New Bedford does when there is a a vacancy on the school committee.
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The joint— in this case, as everybody knows, there is a vacancy on the school committee with the passing of, uh, Russell Oliveira.
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The joint convention is comprised of the city council as well as the remaining members of the school committee and chaired by the mayor.
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So we met on October 7th to, to consider candidates.
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There were some 8 candidates who were qualified by the Election Commissioner.
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And each of those candidates had an opportunity to speak, to make their case to this body.
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Nominations were offered at that point.
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There were 5 nominees initially for the position.
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At the end of that, debate was held, and debate was closed.
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Several rounds of voting were conducted, and despite that, no candidate emerged with the requisite 9 votes to prevail in the election.
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Upon the motion of Council President Pereira, this body recessed until this date, January 21st, to consider the remaining Nominees.
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There are four nominees in play right now remaining: Lee Blake, Henry Busquet, Marcus Coward, and Brad Markey.
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That's where things stand right now.
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I understand, Mr.
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Clerk, that there is a letter that has been submitted for the record.
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Is that correct?
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It is, Mr. Chairman, related to the nominations.
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And, uh, would you tell us what that letter is and please read it into the record?
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Yes, sir.
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The letter is from Henry Bousquet.
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It is addressed, Dear Mayor Mitchell and honorable members of the Joint Committee, I am writing to you this evening to offer my rescission for consideration as a candidate to fill Bruce Oliveira's vacancy.
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I have given it considerable thought since the vote was taken on January 7th.
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I believe the children and educators of New Bedford deserve the best possible candidate for this role.
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A candidate who understands the role of the education professionals, the municipality's role, and the role of fiduciary oversight and guidance on behalf of the taxpayer.
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A candidate who understands what it will take to be conscientious, independent, and a steward for the children, families, educators, and homeowners of the City of New Bedford.
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I also believe that this vote should have been about what is best for the school department and those it serves.
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The process was not meant to be about granting participation trophies, someone's political affiliation, or to give someone an excuse to, to defame anyone, especially any well-meaning community member attempting to participate in the political process.
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If our children are to have the nation of our fathers— that our forefathers have promised them, then we are going to have to do better at embracing diversity.
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Real diversity and inclusion starts with the idea, and you can't foster new ideas without honoring diversity of thought.
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Though this chapter of service is closing, my commitment to the children, families, and future of New Bedford remains absolute and unwavering.
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I look forward to continuing the work of advocacy and good governance on a different, perhaps broader, platform in the future.
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Thank you for your service, and may God bless New Bedford and the United States of America.
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America, without wax, Henry G. Busquet, CEC, Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical Educator, father, and homeowner.
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Okay, thank you for, for that.
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I want to thank Mr. Busquet for his candidacy and for submitting that letter for the record.
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There are 3 nominees before us now then.
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That is Lee Blake, Marcus Coward, and Brad Marky.
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And I will ask at this time that the clerk take the next ballot for the record.
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Councilor Avery.
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Councilor Baptiste.
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Councilor Burgow.
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Councilor Carney.
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Councilor Chauquet.
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Councilman— Mrs. Costa?
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Mr. Carter?
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Councilor Gomes?
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Mr. Livramento?
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Councilor Lopes?
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Mayor Mitchell?
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Ms. Meniz?
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Councilor Oliver?
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Councilor Pemberton.
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Councilor Pereira.
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Marky.
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Marky.
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Mr. Porter.
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Coward.
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Coward.
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Councilor Roy.
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12:35
Coward.
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Coward.
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Mr. Chairman, Mr. Marky has 9 votes, Mr. Coward has 8.
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Okay, so So for the record, Mr. Markey has been elected, receiving the 9 requisite votes under the rules of this convention.
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I want to congratulate him.
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I want to congratulate all the candidates who participated.
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Again, this bears reemphasizing that it takes a lot to put yourself out there the candidacy for anything, including in this context that where the people who are doing the electing are themselves elected officials.
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So I want to thank everybody for participating, all their supporters as well.
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What we hope that comes out of this is a school committee that can continue to serve the students of this city well.
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And that is ultimately what we're doing here.
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Before we adjourn, the next step is for Brad Markey, who I believe is here.
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Is he here?
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I hope he's here.
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Oh, there he is behind the seat.
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Uh, Mr.
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Clerk, if you would swear him in, and then before we adjourn.
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Raise your right hand.
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I, Brad Markey.
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I, Brad Markey.
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Do solemnly swear.
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Do solemnly swear.
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Yes, hold on.
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I will faithfully and impartially perform my duties as a member of the New Bedford School Committee.
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As a member of the New Bedford School Committee.
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In accordance with the laws.
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In accordance with the laws.
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And the Constitution Constitution of the United States, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the charter and ordinances of the City of New Bedford, so help me God.
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Thank you.
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15:15
Okay, we have a motion to adjourn, second.
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Go ahead.
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Hold on, we have a second.
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Councilor Gomes, did you want to speak?
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Yes, I do.
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Thank you, ma'am.
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Thank you, Mr. President.
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15:30
This is, this is, um, the vote has been taken this evening, and if you would just allow me the opportunity, I'm not very happy.
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I'm not— it's not that I'm not happy with the vote, I'm not happy with the process.
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I'm not happy with what has transpired through all of this.
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We have a divided community right now because of this, and I don't know if, um, Bruce was looking down on us right now.
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15:57
He would say this wasn't supposed to happen like this.
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16:00
I've been through 2 of these and I've never seen this kind of approach.
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16:05
He accepted the letter from former Councilor of Ward 3, Henry Bosquet, tonight.
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Um, what has happened to him over the past few days shouldn't have happened to him, shouldn't happen to Marcus, shouldn't happen to anybody that put their name forth come before us to be on the school committee.
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There should have been a process where the people came before us, we got to question— we heard from them.
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I would have liked to question them, but that wasn't in the process.
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But, and, and then we took our vote.
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But for this to happen this way and for this separation, I'm not very happy.
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So I hope that us as elected officials, that whether you like me or you don't like me, or I like you or I don't like you, that we stand in sincerity with our community and ask everybody, take it easy, relax, relax.
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Another day will come.
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But this day shouldn't have been done this way.
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And I don't like seeing what happened.
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I don't like seeing what happened to Henry Busquet.
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I don't like seeing what happened with Marcus.
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I don't like seeing what happened anywhere here today.
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And I just thought that someone had to say it, Mr. Mayor and Mr. President.
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That this is— this was not supposed to happen this way.
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I've been through 2 of these and they were smooth sailing.
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This one got into the part where we're separating people and people are angry because people are not voting for somebody or the council or whatever.
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It, it just wasn't supposed to be that way.
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So if anything we can do after we walk out this door is try to keep both sides in tune.
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This is our city.
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We're better than that, as it's always said.
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Thank you very much.
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17:38
Okay, thank you very much, Councilor Gomes.
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Um, all right, so we have— so we have a, uh, a motion and a second.
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So can you take the roll, Mr.
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Clerk?
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What's that?
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Oh, we always do it the other way in the school committee.
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So all those in favor say aye.
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Aye.
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Any opposed?
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There are none.
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We are adjourned.
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Thank you, everybody.
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