June 2023: At our Annual Meeting, we voted to maintain our Non-Partisanship Policy as is, and approved the 2024 Budget as proposed. As our fiscal year is the calendar year, the proposed budget reflects anticipated income and expenses for the remainder of 2023, and a proposed budget for 2024.
August 2023: We sponsored a table at the Farmers Market for voter registration and information.
September 2023: We sponsored a booth at the Victorian Fair for voter registration and information. Although many voters register online, we believe that the questions and conversations about voting information and the registration process are a service to the community. It’s always a pleasure being a visible part of our community for this event.
October 2023: The League was proud to sponsor a team for the annual Candlelight Vigil and Walk for Melrose Alliance Against Violence in October and help to raise fund for this important community resource. As a founding member of MAAV, the League is committed to supporting the organization.
Also in October, the League organized and hosted a Candidates Forum for 17 candidates for local offices, City Council, School Committee and Mayor. Moderated by a neutral moderator from outside the City and taped by MMTV for streaming, it was a live, and lively, forum held in the City Council chambers on one night with multiple panels of candidates. Many League members worked hard on this Forum and it was a very successful effort. This kind of voter information by a non-partisan organization is the most important work we do for our mission to facilitate democracy by supporting voter information.
April 2024: Susan Baron hosted our Meeting with Mayor Jennifer Grigoraitis, and City Planner Denise Gaffey on April 21, 2024, at her home. It was a pleasure to visit with everyone and we had very informative and open discussions with both City leaders.
A complete summary of the discussions is attached from our Message to Members in April 2024. The Mayor was focused on the financial health of the city, the state of our educational system, public works and public safety departments, and the need for additional revenues to maintain city services. The City Planner gave us a comprehensive talk about the zoning districts in the city, specifically housing regulations; the many constructions projects that are in process at this time; and the MBTA Communities Act and its impact in our city.
Based on our discussions at this meeting, we supported the override question on the ballot in the June election, and sent a letter of support to the local paper and the community facebook page.
May 2024: The recipient of the Joan Moore Scholarship was announced and approved by vote of the members. This year’s recipient was Nicolas Chiulli, an MHS grad heading to Endicott College to study criminal justice.
June 2024: Members at the Steering Committee meeting in June decided to postpone Annual Meeting until July 9, 2024, and discussed the future of the League. Possibilities include reorganizing and asking specific members to volunteer to take responsibility for a specific activity (Victorian Fair, MAAV walk, etc), so that one or two members are not responsible for organizing all the League’s work. Another possibility discussed was a slow wind-down in one or two years for this leadership group, during which a new leadership group might take over or the organization might decide to disband. It was agreed to put this topic on the Agenda for decision at Annual Meeting.
