By NEIL ZOLOT
MELROSE — Mayor Paul Brodeur and colleagues expressed their feelings after a racist incident experienced by City Councilor Maya Jamaleddine Saturday, December 3 at the Shell gas station at the corner of Main Street and Lynn Fells Parkway.
“This is something we should stand actively against,” Mayor Brodeur said at the City Council meeting Monday, December 5 in reference to some people telling Jamaleddine to go back to her own country at the gas station. “I hope it’s a sentiment not reflective of our community, but it happened in our community.”
Speaking directly to Jamaleddine, he added, “What happened to you is something that shouldn’t happen. On behalf of the Mayor’s office I apologize. We will be here for you and stand with you.”
“This type of racist hatred is not what our city represents,” Council President Chris Cinella commented. He also said Jamaleddine “is in her own country.”
“Thank you for your support,” Jamaleddine reacted. “For those who think these acts don’t happen in Melrose, it did. I chose to speak, but many suffer in silence.”
She also said her children have been traumatized from the incident, which occurred after she spoke to a man because she thought his car was rolling at the station.
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In other business, in a caucus session, the members chose Jen Grigoraitis to succeed Cinella as Council president, effective in early January. She’s returning to the post she held in 2020 before Cinella was president in 2021 and 2022. “I’m expected to have the support of my colleagues and want to thank Chris for his leadership over the last two years,” she said.
“She was an excellent president in 2020 and will make an excellent president in the coming year,” Cinella said of Grigoraitis.