Good morning everyone,

I first want to take a moment to wish everyone a very happy new year. May
2017 bring you much success, health and happiness. I thank you all for
taking time out of your day to come share this very special moment with
me. I want to thank Senator Welch for accepting my invitation to
administer the oath of office. I thank you for your dedicated service to
Hamden County and to the City of Springfield, and thank you for your
friendship. I also want to recognize the man who paved the way for me to
be standing here today; he is the first Latino ever elected to the Springfield
City Council, and the first Latino to serve as council president;
representative Jose Tosado.
A special thank you to Vanessa Ford for her musical selection; pastor Eli
Serrano and Pastor Mark Baymon for their prayer.
I want to thank, acknowledge and congratulate our out-going president, City
Councilor Michael Fenton. Thank you for your honorable service in leading
this legislative body over the last three years. To my colleagues, I cannot
express enough how humbled and how grateful I am to each one of you for
having the confidence in me, and electing me as your president. To my
family and friends who are in the audience; thank you for being here to
share this special moment with me as well.

And finally, a special thank you to that beautiful little girl who led us all in
reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag, the Amazing Ariana Ramos. As I
began to write my speech, I quickly realized two things; one, that I could
literally make this entire speech about you; and two, that if I did, I probably
would not be able to get through the first sentence without getting
emotional, and so Ill keep it short. Ill just say that, just in case you have
not yet figured it out, you are the center of my universe. My entire world

revolves around you. Im proud of the young woman you are becoming,
and words cannot express how much I love you.
On the first Monday of each year, the Springfield city council convenes for
the purpose of electing new leadershipPresident and Vice-President.
Among many other responsibilities, the Council President presides over
each meeting; makes committee appointments, serves as a parliamentarian
while preserving order and decorum. On this 2nd day of January 2017, I
have been given the privilege of serving in this capacity; and I humbly
accept the opportunity to serve as President of the Springfield City Council.
Its been an interesting journey for me to get to where I stand today. Many
of you may remember the hurdles I had to overcome; obstacles which
included two unsuccessful attempts at public office. Losses that I
remember vividly, and refuse to forget; because they serve as a stark
reminder of just how privileged we are to occupy one of these thirteen
seats. It has been a great honor to serve the constituents of Ward 8, and
the City of Springfield as a whole for the past three years; and I look forward
to many more years of public service.
Today I serve alongside twelve other distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
who are as diverse as the city we represent. We are Latino, Caucasian, and
we are African-American. We range in ages from our mid-twenties to our
late seventies. We are community organizers, lawyers, former caretakers,
former carpenters, former public safety officers. We come from many
different backgrounds. It is that diversity that has contributed to
collectively making us one of the most effective and efficient legislative
bodies this city has seen in a long time. Weve accomplished some great
things under the leadership of President Fenton; and I hope to continue
building on the progress weve made over the past three years.

With that said, my number one priority as Council President, is to ensure

that we do everything we can to help improving police/community relations
in our city. We, as legislators; as elected leaders of this great city; must do
everything we can within our authorityincluding using our legislative
authorityto help repair and strengthen the relationship between the
Springfield police department and the communities within the city of
Springfield. We must continue to build on the progress we made just this
past year, as we authored, approved, and overrode a veto to restore a
civilian police commission.
We have a police department made up of many brave men and women;
honorable individuals who put their lives at risk in order to fulfill their oath
to serve and protect. Men and women who have earned the right to be
called heroes. Officers whom many of us have had the opportunity to get to
know on a personal level. We know them as hard workers, whom earn
every cent of their paychecks and more. We know them as loving fathers
and mothers, sons and daughters, in addition to being dedicated public
servants. We know all these things based on our interactions, and our own
experiences with them; but just like anything else in life, we must avoid
becoming prisoners of our own biography; and acknowledge and
understand that our own experiences are not necessarily identical to
everyone elses. And we must listen to the clamor of those who feel that
they have been treated unjustly; because particularly for us, as elected
leaders, denial and/or indifference towards injustice is just as harmful, and
just as dangerous as the injustice itself.
There are approximately 154 thousand people who call the city of
Springfield their home. 154 thousand human beingseach of them
afforded the same constitutional rights as the next one. We have an
obligation to assure them, that if they should ever find themselves in a
situation in which they are in need of assistance from our law enforcement
officers, they will be treated as people; and that their concerns will be

addressed with the same level of empathy, and the same common courtesy
that would be extended to any of us. Because we live in a country that was
built on the premise that all men are created equal; and a simple request to
be treated as a human being, is not too much to ask!
In addition to public safety, residency requirements are also a top priority of
mines. This body has demonstrated that we take this matter seriously.
During the last calendar year we have voted to reject a collective bargaining
agreement that did not include residency requirements; we strengthened
the responsible employer ordinance to ensure that our residents are given a
fair shot at finding employment; and voted to eliminate the practice of
granting waivers for those who dont live in the city. Votes that I am very
proud of. Im proud of my colleagues for standing together on this very
important issue.
I want to thank and commend Mayor Sarno for his most recent comments
on residency; and I pledge to work with him and his administration to find
ways to strengthen our residency ordinance and in turn, strengthen our
local economy. Im glad to see that the mayor takes this matter just as
seriously as we do; and I look forward to working together towards
progress.
In closing, I just want to reiterate how grateful i am to the twelve men and
women I serve with, for allowing me the privilege to serve in this capacity. I
want to thank the Clerk Attorney Anthony Wilson, and our administrative
staff Susan, Kelley, and Karla for all of their hard work in keeping this office
running smoothly.

I will leave you with the words that I wrote in the final paragraph of a 54page portfolio that I completed as an undergraduate student at the
University of Massachusetts in 2013.

It reads I describe myself as a man of faith, a loving father, and a hard

worker who just so happens to be running for public office; an average
citizen with a greater vision for the community where I live and the
community chose to raise my child; a man who refuses to accept things for
the way they are, and possesses the desire to help make them better. I
believe that as long as I remember the struggles that I went through in my
lifetime, I can hold on to the values that make me who I am and use my
experiences to help make my community better for the next generation.

Thank you. And God Bless