By Adam Swift
Despite a positive recommendation from its ways and means subcommittee, the city council failed to approve a motion that called for police details at its meetings.
The motion was introduced by Councillor-at-Large Joanne McKenna and Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya.
“On March 2, the (council) meeting had to go into recess because a man who currently has a trespassing order against him entered city hall, came into the chambers, and sat in the front row,” said McKenna. “Police were called to remove him about 10 minutes later. Thankfully, the situation ended peacefully, but it raises an important question about safety for everyone in this room.”
Since that night, McKenna said the man entered city hall three more times, with the police being called to remove him.
“What if this man was disgruntled and angry?” McKenna asked. “It would take seconds for him to pull out a gun and shoot up the room without a police presence during the meeting. There is little protection if the situation escalates quickly.”
McKenna said councilors, staff, and members of the public should feel safe when they attend a city council meeting.
Ward 1 Councillor Jim Mercurio said the motion has been presented to the council several times and said he believed it was important to have security in the chambers.
“Having a police presence here will ensure the safety and respect the environment that we are in,” said Guarino-Sawaya. “We have had the issue week after week of a person completely disrupting the council meetings, and this has been going on for years.”
Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro said he spoke to the police chief about the cost of a security detail, and the chief estimated it would cost about $6,160 per year.
During the regular council meeting, the motion failed to gain a majority with Councillors Paul Argenzio, Chris Giannino, Marc Silvestri, Michelle Kelley, and Ira Novoselsky voting against it.