Good evening. Welcome. I'm calling to order this meeting of the comments and selects. On Monday, April 24th. I'm just going to work here at Eric Holden. And I'm going to go right through it. Order of the question has not been pulled over. Tonight's meeting is being conducted in a Irish format. This is the Chapter 2 of the Act of 2043 signed into law in March, March 29th, 2023, which further extends a certain code of 19 that you are regarding on the specification of how it leads until March 31st, 2025. Before we begin this meeting, please don't follow. First, this meeting has been conducted in select board chambers and will resume. This meeting has been recorded. And as I mentioned, the meeting is being brought to staff in this same line. Second, persons wishing to join the meeting by soon may have time to change their mind. This meeting, by the way, is going to be made visible to others than if you wish to participate. We ask that you provide your full hand in the interest of helping record the meeting. Same is true for anyone who is not fully here in the chambers. Third, all participants are advised that people may be listening to an offer by comment, unless a person does not require a quick invite to sell us. Those in participants versus watching an ACMI can follow the post-agenda and the various comments on the website specifically. This is the report agenda is in minutes to be reached. Let's see how much of the town's business is being done tonight. This is the meeting, of course, prior to our first session of the annual town meeting when there was to be done before 8 p.m. to the ACMI and the post-agenda events. Also, as a note, I wouldn't accuse myself of turning me over to my vice-chair, Mr. Hurd, our vice-chair, Mr. Hurd, because I'm always mind-focusing in the State Senate. I have to accuse myself of being managed to involve special legislation. So, at that point, I'm just going to carry the lead for myself and then I'll see you all down the stairs. Any questions? Thank you very much. The first item on the agenda is the Consent Agenda. I have a few questions. The first one is approved by Mr. Griggins, seconded by Mr. Hurd. Any discussion on the questions? Hearing none, I'm motioned by Mr. Biggins, and seconded by Mr. Hurd. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Yes. I think we can register that we'll read the consent agenda for the public's integration. We approve this, and we need to do a full attempt. The rainbow commission is going to approve the five-celebration of Louisville Park on June 17. The request is a contract with the Rainier with the Rain and Land License, but the privilege can't be drained. Another request for the same by J. O. C. Construction. The request for a special one-day green wine license was the L. S. School for the Enroger. Request a temporary permission for the L. J. N. School of the University of Carmelson. Some are positive series that would be more perfect and very basic in the wine office. I'm just asking for a little bit. Our next item of business are two-way forwarding. This is for the embedded special coming that will be made at 5th of April tomorrow. There's no one special coming. On the third. On the third. So, in terms of that, tonight is for this one we're here for the article presentation to have a discussion with the public. We will then, for each of the articles, open up the board for comment, each comment, how we turn the public into three minutes in the U.S. and the state on the topic of those articles. At that point, we should have a session toward the rules of the action. At that time, I think that I'm trying to find the public to invite us very carefully in the careful instruction to do all the morning exercises to make sure that they're all in the producer meeting since evening's record of a record. So, we'll do it at any time. In the beginning of the discussion, I'll go over the statement. All right. So, the first item in the morning will be wearing this article, too. Vote for a hybrid, how many people said it to me. The representative problem of the town being perceived. Christopher Moore, President 14, and member of the Town Being Procedures Committee. The article, too, is a proposal to create a study committee to study the possibility of hybrid format town meeting. We're well aware that there's not clearly legislative authorization to even do that at this point. So, one of the things the committee's going to have to look at is what would it take legally? Also, what would it take technically? And what would be the reasons for doing it? What communities would be served by having an easier time participating in town meeting? And what beneficial effects would we expect? And what detrimental effects might we expect? We carefully put together the motion that we suggested to the board to not presuppose an outcome about what sort of recommendation the committee might make. The intention is also for this committee to live on probably for a couple of years to figure out all the stuff that needs to happen and then to help with the implementation much like the Electronic Voting Study Committee did. I think that the law is just a little bit of a deadlock here. All right, Jason. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Monroe. There was more than it needed to hold that thought. It was a good one. I think, again, if I see it live, I can think that way over the other mic. So, didn't you have a motion or a session? Mr. Herb. I'll move positive action. I look forward to the outcome of the study. One of the reasons that I have to do it, to accuse myself of an X-ray, I don't happen to know that it's in fairly late-breaking news that hybrid town meetings are not specifically permitted. At least it will be some days. That's good to hear. Thank you very much. I appreciate the model that you proposed of a kind of group, but it means a lot to make sure we get it right. Thank you. At this point, I want to invite any public comments to comment below. And I'll check with Ms. Mara first to check the room. And Ms. Mara, is anybody raising their hand? And I guess I forgot to say the national words. If you wish to help public comment, please raise your hand and say, please continue on to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Ms. Mara. Mr. Herb. I just have a brief question for Ms. Mara. I'm just wondering if you can answer it. This is at the request of the town meetings committee. Was this something that you felt that it needed just more direct attention, maybe more members, that you wouldn't want to handle just within the proceedings committee itself? Yes, I always thought that it really needed some direct attention from potentially a larger group than the town meeting procedures committee, which is five people including the moderator, who has a big job. So we thought it would be helpful to have a focused group on this. Thank you. For public comment, we've had a discussion of the motion once again by Mr. Herb, seconded by Mr. Gideon, on the motion to favourable action all in favour. I now pose. Thank you very much for your work. Thank you. At this point, I will turn the meeting over to Mr. Herb as vice-chair. I'll see you now, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will make some opening remarks, and then I would like to call on the police chief to offer her perspective. We also have, in addition to Chief Flaherty, our human resources director, Karen Balloy, to answer any questions. This is a piece of home role legislation or special legislation that we would file with the general court that would allow us to exempt civil service procedures or hiring of police officers. Once those officers were hired and on staff passed their probationary period, they would then have full civil service rights if they wanted to complain about how we were treating them or their status or promotions or so forth. The reason that we are asking panel meetings for this authority is that, like a lot of communities, we have found it's been getting more and more difficult to not only hire all sorts of staff, but in particular, it's getting harder and harder to hire police staff. We've noticed in other communities that are not in the civil service system that they get many more applicants for their jobs than Arlington does. And so we thought this would be a good step in the right direction. We had been talking with the unions about the possibility of exiting civil service entirely. That is somewhat a conversation that's going on in bargaining with them. So instead of taking that full step at this point, we thought, let's just try to get us out of the hiring part because I think everybody agrees. I don't want to speak for the unions, but I think everybody agrees that the civil service hiring process is not good for the town and makes it difficult for us to hire qualified people. There are lots of details about how that works. I'd be happy to answer any questions, but I would respectfully request that the police chief be allowed to speak to this issue. Chief Julie Flaherty. So I don't think it's a secret that since I was appointed as chief, I've been exploring or looking at the idea of coming out of civil service for hiring for many different reasons, but I think at this point right now we are entering into a hiring crisis. So about 30 years ago, when I first came on and I sat down and took the civil service test, I was competing with over 300 other candidates for two or three positions and that's just not happening anymore. We're not seeing people signing up to be police officers anymore at this point. Last month, civil service had an entry-level exam and they had nine people sign up for the test. I don't know how many people actually showed up to take the test and I don't know how many people pass that test because they won't have the scores back until September. Last March, we had civil service had an entry-level exam and 16 people sat down and took that test. We just started bringing some people in to begin hiring police officers and of those 16 people that we reached out to, six came in and expressed interest in being a police officer. Of those six that we interviewed, we identified four qualified candidates who will move on in the process and what we've seen in the past is we give conditional office employment, we go through the whole process and then the last portion of the process is a physical abilities test to get into the academy and that's where we're losing people. If we had come out of civil service for hiring, we would be able to administer our own exams, our own test for entry-level 1, 2, 3, how many times a year we determined we'd always have an active list and on the day of the test we could test people for their physical abilities to enter the academy and the written test. So we would know ahead of time who was ready for the academy and we would be able to develop a list then and we would save precious time and money and energy and not lose people at the very end stage. When I talk to my colleagues who have left civil service, they're not having this problem. Civil service police departments are, they are able to go to colleges, go to their social work departments, psychology, sociology, criminal justice departments and recruit graduating seniors because they don't have to be residents. They're able to recruit from college campuses, police officers on college campuses who are post certified and even larger hospital campuses in Boston. So they're not seeing this problem. They're having exams, they're having 50 to 100 people come on the day of the exam to take the test and they're able to hire qualified candidates and diversify their police departments. So ultimately I think it comes down to I am responsible making sure that everybody in the community is safe and without police officers I'm not able to do that. All right, I'll open up to the board for any questions, comments and motions. I did have a conversation on the phone with the town manager and with the chief and to certainly understand all the points that have been made and indicated I'm willing to vote for this to go to town meeting. However, when I see the comment, the draft comment that's attributed in there that really because I said coming to town meeting as a town meeting member I would vote against this. But since the comment says for me if I vote positive action on this then I'm urging town meeting to do that I won't be voting for it. And I'm going to tell you the reasons why. I understand everything the chief is saying and just to segue and I know a lot of cities and towns have joined or ascribed to the 30 by 30 program and Arlington also is in that which is by, I believe correct me if I'm wrong, by 2030 at least 30% of your workforce should be diverse. And I know the town of Lexington is really I've been watching them and getting their updates. And I think the problem that Arlington has not just with the police department but also with public works is we're not competitive in salary. We have two outstanding female police officers and please Mr. Town Manager correct me if I'm wrong that did apply to Arlington we did put them through the academy invested them and if they're not already in Lexington they're going and they're going to make $27,000 and $30,000 more. I think that's the issue with this and where the comment the way it's designed it's saying I'm endorsing this which I wasn't I said I'd be willing to vote for it to go to town meeting which is the conversation I had with both people and would vote no there because I think this is something town meeting should discuss in debate I still wouldn't be in favor of it just for the arguments given which is we need to attract more candidates and I think first and foremost with and I know I said this before I apologize for repeating having seven and nine vacancies respectively in the Department of Public Works and Fox and Field and Highway for everything that we're doing natural turf anything else it's not going to be maintained and we're not even competitive with stonem which I believe their population is about 20 something thousand so I don't think the issue is getting people to apply for the police department because like I said we attracted two great female candidates but once they get here and they see how vastly underpaid they are I think that's going to continue so I just wanted to explain that I'm all for this debate at town meeting I'm not in favor of it thank you I appreciate your being straightforward and honest about that and thank you very much I would say we do try to offer competitive salaries there are some communities like Lexington that just have so much more wealth than we do that it's hard to compete with them we do have a town manager 12 where we've compared ourselves to we think we're competitive with that and we think we've put competitive wages out there however I'm not here tonight to debate our collective bargaining strategy I would respectfully ask that the board do put this to town meeting so we can have a debate there where I think it would be an appropriate place to have that debate and let them decide I do think having worked in a town before that didn't have civil service and seeing what it's like here I do see how it holds us back and I do respectfully request that town meeting be allowed to take up this issue thank you and could I just add if the draft comment were that the vote of the and I'm not saying this has to happen I didn't if the vote was that the select board thinks this is an important issue that is something that town meeting certainly if the town leaders need to hear the discussion of town meeting and their subsequent vote on it that's sort of a comment that I could vote for it but this is saying something different thank you when you take the chair you have to speak last to attorney heim on the lines of what Mrs. Mahan just mentioned can we just update the draft comments to say because this is similar to the issue that we dealt with a couple of years ago we actually didn't vote to put it on the warrant and then we circled back and we got it to the special town meeting and I voted against it as a town meeting member I don't remember if I was a town meeting member at the time but I think for me you know I've spoken to a few people about this and certainly see both sides of the issue so I would like to be in a position where I just say we're going to push to the warranty town meeting for your debate and I'll go down there where my town meeting had and decide where it is where I land when we go to vote so can we just amend I assume it's within our purview what's in the draft comment yes Mr. Wister the comment can say whatever you want it to say and I attempted to draft a comment that would allow you to say the select board urges positive action or no action but clearly I didn't do a particularly good job of that so you can raise the whole comment and just have the comment say the board forwards this matter for town meeting consideration it's your comment so you can have it read however you want I don't think there's anything too dramatic in there other than the word urge and so I would just move it to what moves positive action instead of in those two locations but again I'll open up for additional comment from the board was it against it's going town meeting anyway it's just a matter of how it goes there it would be to those there it was positive action for no action and I think everyone should vote how they feel and make a sentence no and so I think that's good information for town meeting to know the extent to which we are or not we are we'll see so it's going to town meeting you know I guess I see no one in the room so I'm not here can someone tell me what the other side of the argument is for this besides the civil service process itself and taking the test and things like that the other thing is one of the benefits of civil service is that if you have a police officer that wants to go to another city or town who also is in civil service the chief in Arlington can say no I can't afford to lose that officer they have to stay here now if the officer wants to go to a city or town either that doesn't have civil service in Massachusetts or is outside of Massachusetts all that goes away and I know I've been on this board a long time that we've had police chiefs come in not have civil service we've taken it out at some point chief Ryan then when he came in we gave him civil service status for a whole abundance of reasons which I'm not going to reiterate here because I'm not going to get them correct because I didn't do my homework on that so the town in my opinion definitely sees value in civil service but I certainly understand the chief's but there are other benefits that probably somebody from the union or someone else would tell you but I don't know that the town manager is going to want to do that so I'll leave it at that and I don't know any of my colleagues when I answer that yeah I mean the conversations it's separate issues since they'll have civil service protections while they're on the force and some of the benefits of civil service will be there in place anyways I mean I think I was going to talk after but I'm going to go now civil service has been the way it's been there's I think there is still this I think there's a few people that just recently took the test and the question would be where do they fall in the scheme of the hiring I think and then I think some conversations shift to what's not really the meat of this article is not let's not have a hiring problem hiring issue because let's retain our talent and that is definitely an important conversation to have gets frustrating to me at least that every year of the year our bargaining seems to go into arbitration that we can't work with our officers I understand and I've had conversations with people about the limitations that Arlington has I think they're having seen conversations at the school committee level with teachers and pay relative to some of the neighboring cities and towns and it's the same we have this conversation in many different forms with lack of ability to create new growth and the limitations of proposition two and a half and that is a real aspect of the discussion but I think for something like this some of the officers definitely want to want to see some movement in the way that the town negotiates with unions and we don't step into the role of collective bargaining we've been chewed back by a couple town managers now when I do but I think that's one of the one of the arguments that you will hear from officers is let's not just look at how we hire to replace it's an officer that's been with the town for 20 years expendable but we can pull somebody back in pretty simply if we pass this legislation but again it's not everyone understands that there is an issue with hiring police officers in civil service I think the chief can correct me if I'm wrong but I think I'd heard one time the chief was trying to hire five people applied and one person got through the academy and so now we're having issues as people retire people leave where detectives are getting pulled back into uniform and we definitely need to find a solution so I I always get weary with issues like with this but I think it's something that I'll vote for to move on to town meeting for the discussion and we'll see what happens at state we don't I'm not sure Mr. do you know if this is passed in any other jurisdictions or is this a novel idea for the state to review it's a somewhat novel idea the city of adalboro put forward a similar proposal I will say for the last two years that I know of there have been several petitions for towns to move out of civil service entirely none of which have moved in the city of adalboro it's a complicated issue up on beacon hill involving multiple unions particularly the fire union which is dead set against any changes the police may be a little less so but on beacon hill it's just a difficult situation but I think this at least would send a little message to our senators legislators and the legislative leadership that something needs to be done is there any more comments on the board this is just 714 so so I understand that the civil service that you had at one point being 300 people flying and now being very few is that even across the board with non civil service if I may Mr. Chair yes there are communities Burlington just got out of civil service for example they get 100 people applying I think the last time they opened up a job application there I know when I was back in Amherst we had plenty of people applying so the non civil service communities have much better luck and make it much easier for them to get attract people to get jobs in their towns my question was though is the trend going down for them also yes there are more communities getting out of or trying to get out of civil service than staying there aren't people moving into civil service at this point so I think I think Burlington had 200 applications when they opened it up would they have 200 applications or is the trend that people in general are less likely to apply for police officer positions I think the trend in general is that it is harder to hire people in police positions I think that's all across the country frankly I read articles about that so in that regard I think we're trying to have a multi-tasked position taking away as many obstacles as we can to hiring I think civil service is an obstacle we need to get rid of that again without getting in the particulars of collective bargaining I think we're trying to put things out that would be favorable to the unions and favorable both to be able to hire and retain people so it's a multi-faceted approach if the problem is getting more people to apply I just want to know whether or not this is a solution to it I mean I'm supporting it for other reasons one is because it was a recommendation from the equity audit and I understood the rationale for that and I supported I mean on the other side of it I do understand the value in having people from a community police in the community but in a community that has our own sense of composition the only way to get more diversity which is to bring it from from outside it's a difficult state though so you take it from you take it from someplace else they have less but like I said I think the equity audit I like the reasons for that I understood those reasons and then of course there is the Chief of Police who is supporting those and I I'm just going to give that a lot of weight just as I would if it were going in that direction it would be really hard for me to go against unless I had unless I had some compelling reason and I don't but I would burden my colleagues with respect to report because once again this is going to town meeting I think it's important to town meeting to know if you don't support it and not to say it's important just to get to town meeting anyway so I think it's important if you don't that you let people know that you've gone and why you don't so that they have more information to make a decision so that's it, thank you if I may this is the vote on sending it to town meeting at town meeting members have the ability to express themselves at that point in the debate so I would respectfully take a different position for what you've just articulated Mr. Jans because I think the vote tonight is whether to give town meeting the opportunity to take up the issue well thank you for that I just understood and so I just assumed that it was going as a matter of whether we voted positive action on town meeting to take it up or not so I clearly misunderstood I'm sorry for that I'll withdraw but by advice and it's about I understand why you always saying take the position you are thank you Mr. President thank you Mr. Heard just a follow up question and I'm aware of the I believe this actually is almost identical to what is currently pending at the legislature for the City of Attleboro is that the first time Attleboro has attempted to do this or have they done it in a prior session and it wasn't approved I believe I believe I don't know I know it's pending in the current session and again just to be clear if an individual is hired after the 12 months that police officer is considered a civil service police officer there's a lot of issues here in terms of civil service what happens with the civil service program and whether there's an opt out later on whether there isn't challenges in terms of flexibility both for officers and for communities and I think based on what the Chief has said tonight I'm willing to support this for hiring purposes because clearly there are challenges here I will say there are a number of other issues Mrs. Mohan referred to them I think those go beyond what's being attempted here but they certainly are very important just as we go forward and I think for purposes of the town meeting discussion I think it would be important just to try to distinguish presently what's happening with civil service communities non-civil service communities because I know just in general I think earlier this year that the Commissioner of the City of Boston Police Department sent letters to the Massachusetts Association saying we can't hire police officers so there are major issues here for this limited purpose I'd be willing to go along and support it Thank you I guess just to wrap up our discussion before we go to public comment I'd say it sort of touches on what Mrs. Mohan was saying and leads into Mr. Bingham's question are we going to see 200 applicants? Probably not because there's a whole host of figures including what does it pay? What's the reception? How are the officers treated? I think that's a separate issue that we need to continue to work on to make sure that we're taking care of our police department and we're attracting new members and we're retaining our current members because it's certainly a lot of value and institutional knowledge of officers that have been in the town for a long time so I think there are again I'll support this to send this town meeting where my town meeting had down there when I vote but I think there is a continued discussion that we're going to have beyond just the hiring because we don't want to go through even if we're hiring out of civil service I don't think the chief wants to take up all her time hiring where there's constant turnover so I will support this at this hearing I will likely support it at town meeting and but again I want to continue to have those conversations to make sure that our officers are being treated fairly they'll be being paid what they should within the limits of what the town can provide and certainly from resident perspective, town perspective from us that the officers are getting the respect they deserve for the work that they do so because this was on the special town meeting warrant it wasn't a long time between when it was published and when we had the hearing there's nobody in line or nobody here who's speaking to this but I think given the short timeframe about there who have concerns I think that we should be aware of the concerns I would encourage them to contact us and let those concerns know or let reasons that they're in favor of it be known to before we go to the special town meeting because I think the limited time may or may not have affected that but I think it helps us all of us get as much information as we can I suspect there may be some folks that have comments quick question because it's been raised a lot I'm not getting any discontented about me but through you Mr. Chair the town manager or the human resources director I think I know 10 and I think when I put up public works in police on the Allington 12 we're very near the bottom could you quickly list out as close as you can who the Allington 12 communities I understand for like town manager and then schedule employees we're at the top and for like teachers we're at the bottom at like 68% and police officers are like 72% but could you list the Allington 12 or come close to it um Needham, Belmont, Stoneham Reading Stoneham Watertown and Rochester okay so I reiterate again that Stoneham is paying better than Allington is for town jobs so anyways and with that this is public hearing this is public hearing we'll first go to anyone in the room that would like to speak and is there anyone on Zoom seeing no one gets raised it was the public hearing for sure so I'm reading the tax of the article and it says to see if the town will vote to authorize and request the select board to petition the Mass General Court to exempt the town from provisions so it doesn't seem to me like we're voting on whether to send this to Tom Meade can I clarify I think what the discourse here is is the select board through its comment really just the comment articulating the position that it supports and wants to tell to take a certain action or that it just wants town meeting to talk about it and take a vote so for example in the draft comment it just sort of says select board moves insert position action so what I intended there was positive action, negative action whatever it was but you could also draft something that means like the select board forwards this article for the purposes of town meetings discussion and then close it out with the balance the board does not take a substantive position but advances it to town meeting for its collective discourse and judgment so I think what your colleagues are talking about from my perspective at least what I'm hearing is that the part of the discussion is are we voting on this and saying town meeting please do this or are we voting on this because if we don't vote on it the default motion is no action before town meeting it would need either a substitute motion or something like that to be before the meeting do I have that correct? yeah Mr. Diggins in the same place I feel like if you put more of this my right election for the last time we put initially this for a special town meeting is that we have to vote to put it senate to town meeting correct the special town meeting is only articles that the select board votes to put before town meeting no Mr. Leicester these articles are on the special town meeting more you are voting whether or not you are going to have a positive action motion or if there is a no action that is the default action before town meeting and maybe I understand what you are doing so all special legislation any special legislation we ever submit of any kind has that same premium it's how many will you authorize this the select board always files special legislation through our legislative delegation so we are back to where I got the word because the town manager said I am not going to send this to town meeting and my understanding is that this is going to town meeting this is a matter of whether it goes there with no action if I may Mr. Diggins if there is no positive action someone would have to submit a substitute motion town meeting members could do that but they are not guaranteed to do that because this was inserted in the request of the manager the manager cannot submit a substitute motion only a town meeting member can do that I understand that's how this was in New York yes sir I understand I guess what I was getting I could go on we are all on the same page thank you so I think you are hearing that it would get worse so before you all take a vote I just want to make sure I understand from a comment perspective and again a comment can be done it's your motion whether or not you want this draft comment to just be we urge positive action or you want it to be a slightly more tap down version that I just sort of articulated where you are forwarding it to town meeting for discussion and to where you are saying you don't take a substantive position but you are advancing it for town meetings discourse and judgment I can well confirm if Ms. Maron can certainly talk on this I just think if it says this is like what moves positive action which is what we are doing I think we sometimes give ourselves a little more influence over the way town meeting votes than they have so we spend time a little bit on semantics where it says urge is kind of like we are really pushing this whereas some of us are we might urge something that we ultimately vote against so I would just not comment on this but I just think if it says we move positive action I don't think it's going to sway the town meeting one way or another but it's a little more in line with what you are hearing for the board I agree with that but I want to wait to see I don't know if there is a motion yet but I would be interested if the motion is what Mr. Hurd said select board moves positive action to go to town meeting or which is within the purview of my colleagues if the motion is the select board moves positive action and requests, urges, whatever word you want to use and I don't know is there a motion so it's whatever whoever wants to make the motion if you want to just make the motion to move positive action to send this to town meeting that's something I can vote for but if you feel so inclined that no I want to I want to go the whole hundred percent then that would be your motion and I would not vote for that thank you Mr. Chair do you want to make the motion? no because don't even get me started with the legislation I think there's a range of where people are but I think for the purposes of having a 4-0 vote I think based on what Mr. Hurd said and what I'd be comfortable with is in the first sentence select board moved positive action on this article and I'd strike the last sentence of the comment and leave everything else in there and I don't know if that's comfortable with the other members and then to the extent that people have more comments that they want to give as individuals they can do it at town meeting but I mean I think I'm going to move positive action on this article and just leave it at that and if I could say to that if the first sentence as Mr. Dacorsi says if the second sentence I don't agree with that and everything else would be fine the summation of Mass. General Law Chapter 31 so I don't know how strongly people fear about that where it says in short sets forth many criteria you know I'm just trying to understand I'm not disagreeing I'm just asking if we could take out take out the sentence in short and then leave everything else where it says the polls are before the board is to remove civil service requirements and da da da da I'll find that and Mr. Dacorsi I think I was going to make because I do really want to flag the sentence of the board here now so Mr. Dacorsi I was a fur so I'd like to wait until they exclude that vote and the thing is we're in the unique position that we already have our draft comment before before we've even voted if we didn't have that we wouldn't be in this vote right now so please don't anyone which I don't feel that anyone is doing that to take that into account so if you could kind of wipe that you know because I mean I could go on for another 20 minutes but you don't want me to disagree with that second sentence but I'm not going to go there Mr. Dacorsi my only concern in the comment is we have Chapter 31 in the vote I think Chapter 31 has to be identified as what it is in the comment and if you don't agree with the full sentence that's fine but I mean I think somewhere you have to identify what Chapter 31 is in the comment in what's happening here just as a matter of fact that's fine may I make a suggestion yeah no no it says that it's Chapter 31 that's all if you'd like to proceed in this manner it could read the select board moves positive action this is a terminating discussion or it just moves positive action the proposal before the select board is to remove civil services parentheses general law Chapter 31 requirements and criteria with respect to new hires under the flexible criteria set forth in the special legislation above does not otherwise propose to effect civil services, processes, conditions or rights, respect to employment, promotion, etc the police officers then that's just the end the only thing on that is what I moved is we moved favorable action and then again individually I think the concern was with the word urges so for me I don't really need the full purposes after that I think that's up to the individuals down the town meeting if they're opposed to it as town meeting members so I mean do we want to simplify this and just says the select board moves positive action on the article? yeah leave it at that uh oh backspace backspace I didn't want to say that it was very good on the spot editing that was almost anti-masking so to sort of clear right now the proposal would be the select board moves positive action on this article sorry for all the time we spent on it no no no there's a very well written comment before it's your comment that's what it should reflect do you have a second? any more discussion? alright so we have a motion for positive action only from Mr. Corsi seconded by Mr. Diggins all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed that is 4-0 vote with Mr. Helmut recusing we have that move presents on to correspondence received move receipt we have an online ADA compliance report from Joan Roman we have a motion to receive second we have a motion to receive from Mrs. Mahan seconded by Mr. Digg Corsi all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed we have a new business thank you Mr. Hannon I would just mention I would have sent you an email that there is something on YouTube now you have a link to it you might just want to take a look Mrs. Mahan I wasn't going to have new business but to that end I do want to thank the select board's office I have not reviewed the whole 48 minutes but I did go to the encounter in the select board's office and I did call Ms. Mahan ask her to pass along my congratulations for the exemplary way that they performed as they do every single day thank you Mr. Diggins Mr. Corsi no new business in our just I only saw the first meeting not the manager Mr. Digg very well so is entertaining Ms. Mahan I would like to move that the select board adjourn and reconvene down at Arlington's regular town meeting and that we remain in session throughout the course of the annual town meeting and that our adjournment of the select board will be at the annual town meeting will be concurrent with the annual town meeting at the annual town meeting second and I just said that so many times because when we go into the special we'll have the same vote thank you that's why we never call anyone else to make that motion motion by Ms. Mahan seconded by Mr. Diggins all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed by Mr. Diggins


Many people think that control is all about robots, knobs on your washing machine and other forms of instrumentation. These are of course industrial applications of control, but there is much more to control than just this. Stochastic control is all about decision making in the face of uncertainty. Problems from stochastic control appear all around us. We plan our travels in the face of uncertainty from traffic, companies plan expansion strategies in the face of market uncertainty, we buy assets like gold and property in order to guard against uncertainty and a cricket captain decides his team strategies in the face of uncertainty from weather, pitch conditions and so on. This course is about various decision making situations under uncertainty, what we call stochastic control. Our particular focus is on the role of information. Information can manifest itself in our lack of knowledge of the underlying system state. Therefore, uncovering this information is also part of stochastic control and part of this course. Information can also manifest itself in the asymmetry of observations between a decentralized team of controllers and therefore, communication and sharing of information is an integral part of stochastic control and part of this course. This course will introduce you to many of these aspects of the interplay of information and control. We will see formal ways of modeling and analyzing decision making problems under uncertainty with varying information structures and come to the realization eventually that stochastic control, communication, problems from organizational structure and economics are not just interrelated but in fact instances of a common theme of decision making under uncertainty.


MLB the show's coverage of Major League Baseball is on the air. A good one on tap for you this afternoon between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. It's Yankees baseball and it comes your way next. Jordan Montgomery is on the mound for game two. Dan, please act. What do you got? Hey, this guy's had a solid year up to this point. It's not an easy thing to do in baseball this year with all the high scoring games. But this guy has an ERA of sub three and that's saying something if he continues to do that, I think you're going to see a really good performance out of him in this one. Standing in Kevin Kiermeier, he will lead this one off today. Here's the first pitch to him. This is hit down the right field line but it's going to get out of play for strike one. First pitch, 107. Barely able to make contact down 0 and 2 now. He goes the other way and this is in the air out to left. Enduhar, retreats to the outfield grass and he has it for out number one. Okay, Martinez. Striding in Jose Martinez. Last night was a good one for him as he turned in a four for five effort. First pitch coming here it is. And that fastball is taken but catches the outer third. Well, this Yankee ball club entering play this afternoon here, it dropped another one last time out in fact they've won just twice in their last eight primes. Yeah, Maddie, this team finds itself with a huge lead. Double digits right now and climbing, playing really good baseball. Some people will say, oh, you don't want to have that big a lead. You start resting on your laurels. I'd look at it the other way, man. You've earned the right to kind of get some guys off their feet if the manager wants. There's a lot of different ways you can go about it. This team's focused in playing really good baseball. I would not worry about it. They're pushing the throttle.  All in all, a great afternoon for baseball, 73 degrees here at first pitch. The 2-1 is laid off of for ball number three. To be honest with you, I'm a little bit more afraid of the guy on deck than the guy that's up right now. If I'm on the mound, I want this guy up right now. He's the guy that's got to beat me. Hit on the ground after short. Torres scoops it up. Throw on to first, two gone. Well executed, two seamer on the outside corner of that diamond. And that's what you'll get a lot of with that pitch. He rolled right over it. So striding in, Austin Meadows. He enters play sixth in the American League in the batting race. What a terrific season this guy's having up near the leaders in batting average, without a doubt the highest average and the best hitter on this team. Now here's the pitch. Kerrball looked at here for strike one. Time for a look at our umpires in this one. Behind the plate is Ed Drummond. Yeah, Matty, we got a good one behind the dish today and Ed Drummond. Well liked by all people, pitchers, batters, managers. All you want as a player is the ability to talk to someone. And that's what Ed does. He gives you that chance. Zero, you hit a nail right on the head. He has a real long fuse. He's not afraid to let a hitter or a pitcher. I'm not to say complain about a particular pitch, but he's not. And we'll have to leave it there as this is strike three and that will retire the side. Down in order, go the Rays. Tampa Bay, nothing. Yankees coming up. It's major league baseball on the show. Blake Snell, the South Paw out of the state of Washington will be the starter. What's your take on him, Dan? Hey, so far this year, this guy hasn't pitched very well on the road. He's actually struggled on the road, so it'll be interesting to see if he can turn that around here in this one. So striding forward now, Brett Gardner. It'll lead things off here in the bottom half of the first. Infield in the over shift here, now the pitch. And that misses ball one.  Yeah, Matty, I've been really impressed with this team, especially on the recent road trip to start to it. They're three and one after four games playing really fundamentally sound baseball from offense to defense pitching. It's all coming together for this group. Now the one and one pitch, lined into left center. And Gardner's going to reach. It's a base hit. Hey, this game's starting off exactly the way they want it to. Lead off single in the bottom of the first after their pitcher went out there and threw a donut on the board. Boys are flying around. Here's Miguel Andujar now. The pitch outside the throw is not close as he's in there with a stolen base. You might say that that steal is on the catcher because the pitcher was so quick to the plate with his delivery. But I think the credit has to go to the base runner. Great jump. And he really showed off his speed there. But at that point, either it's 2-0. When hitters are able to lay off curve balls to get themselves into good counts because of it, you're in pretty big trouble as a pitcher. A lot of guys are on their opponents offering at that pitch. Even when it's not in a good location to hit. Previous history with Blake Snell. Not great, and he's one for eight. Gartner stands at second with no outs. Hit out towards second. He's got it. Throws in time, and that's out number one. Here's big Aaron Judge. Good opportunity for him to add to a seasoned RBI total here, which currently sits as third best in the American League. Well, big time power threats like him tend to rack up a lot of RBI's. He's also way up there on the whole run leaderboard. First delivery to him on the way. A man at third with one away. Ball in a straight. Bounces here, but a good job behind the play to keep it at arms length. Popped him up. Adam is shading to his right. He hauls it in without any trouble, and there are two away. Next for New York, Giancarlo Stanton trying to cash in here in his first at bat with a runner at third and two gone. He comes set. Here's the nothing and nothing pitch. First pitch curveball swung out and missed. Strike one. Men on third with two down, and it's one and one. Lucky he got a piece right there. He was definitely late on that pitch after seeing a previous off-speed pitch. The set and the one two.  Side retired. One left for the Yankees. We are still scoreless. Digging in now, Hunter Renfro took an 0 for 4 in the victory last night. First offering on its way. Good off-speed pitch. Adam out in front for strike one. Fouled away. Renfro, once a member of the San Diego Padres organization, he was acquired via trade last year. I know he'd tell you he'd like to be playing a little bit better, but I think it's as advertised for this ball club right now. I think the manager is getting exactly what they expected. Fouled on to first is in time to get him. So that'll go down as a strikeout and a two to three put out for out number one. And that'll bring in Yandy Diaz. And he's a guy looking to break out in a big way. Hasn't been getting the results he or his club have been hoping for. First pitch is a breaking ball taken down and away for ball one. No score here as we play any number two. Changeup stays outside and is behind 2 and 0. I'm pretty surprised by the location on those last three pitches. The book on him is that he hits the way pitch pretty well. And he just saw three in a row out there.  No, Matt. I expected to mix it up. Most catchers won't call for the same location over and over and over. The ball for the second base number is stepping in. Brandon Lau first shot for him here with a runner at first now and won away. Look now the pitch I get it. They want to run this guy's pitch count up. But that was a pretty good pitch to hit. He might be kicking himself that he didn't swing at that one and an away ball one. And he threw that pitch with a purpose to get a double play. Good job to let it go by though as a hitter. The pitch swung on and missed one and two now. Now that's when you know it's a good pitch. He broke off a really nice breaking ball down in the zone right there. And even though this is one of the best hitters around, he waved right through it. The one two is swung on and miss strike three. Boy, he's having a hard time just putting the ball in play right now. He took the hat trick with three strikeouts yesterday. And here's another one today. Looks to me like he just needs to simplify his approach and focus on making some contact. G. Manchoy the next to hit speared on the dime. He's up with it the throw. It's there and he's out. Play it first that concludes matters here in the inning. More from the show Saturday baseball following this message and a word from our local stations. Gary Sanchez. He'll have five six and seven here to start the home half of the second comes the first pitch. Now the one and one pitch. And he takes strike three called on the fastball one gone. And that sends DJ LaMahieu into the box. And he's a guy looking to break out in a big way. Hasn't been getting the results he or his club have been hoping for. Fastball in there for a called strike. Bottom of the second here with no score. Back to back tough pitches and he's down 0 and 2 now. Hey I love the aggressive nature this guy's pitching with. He's got focus. He's commanding the fastball really being aggressive right now a lot different than his last start where he took a loss and seemed timid and scared to attack his own body pops it up. Troy in foul ground. He's got it and there are two down now. So bases are empty here with two gone. And that will bring up the exciting middle infielder Glaber Torres ready with the first pitch here it comes. Oh that low wouldn't mind the pitcher expand in his own a little bit more and using his aggressiveness against him. Swing and misses he ramps up on the fastball one and one look like he was going to wait him out. See if he was going to come over the heart of the plate with a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little70 you want to go over the ball at night. When the bottom line starts to bring up. Don't you just want to come over the heart of the plate well news flash. He is and this hitters going to adjust his batting gloves and he better be ready in the box. The 11. One strike I don't blame them for not coming over the heart of the plate. He circled this guy on the lineup card when he got to the yard today he's been swinging one the hotter bats in the game. Now the two ones. But a foul ball as it holds it two and two down the pitch and this one runs in on him as he can't get his arms extended a great pitch there and the inning is over. One two three go the bombers will move to the third with no score. Welcome back to the Bronx where these fans have witnessed a lot of good pitching from their Yankees this season. Coming into the day they ranked first in the league in both ERA and strikeouts a combination that has opposing lineup searching for answers. One member of the staff told me it's a special group of guys. I've never been on a pitching staff that's so dominant top to bottom and I've been on some pretty good ones. Now one of the hitters on the team told me I'm relieved I get to stand behind them and play defense instead of staring them down the box. That can't be fun back to you. Really. Thank you Heidi. Now here's the pitch. The first pitch of the inning is taken downstairs for a ball. It's one and all rounded back up the middle and the Rays are in the hit column. There's a hard hit ground ball. Pitcher not able to get a glove on it hard single up the middle. Yeah. Watch your lips right there. Dan sent it back right where it came from. So here's Mike Zanino. He'll take a look at the pitch too low. It's ball one has a look. Now the pitch two and oh no. He's going to have to have a talk with the umpire after this half inning because if he's not going to get those calls he's got to come a little bit more over the heart of the plate. And that usually means damage done outside three and oh no. This inning hasn't started ideally for him on the mound but here on three no you have to have the mentality that you're only a strike and or a ground ball double play away from getting back on track. One's in there three and one. Nobody outrunner on first and it's up to a three to full count now. When you get yourself to a three one count and you get a fastball those are the ones you really want to punish couldn't get the bat on it. So we'll see if that comes back to haunt him and he takes ball four. So a good job out of the nine hole and getting on base as we go back to the top of the order. Huge innings have begun with much less. I could tell you that first and second no out and the guy in the bump really needs a strikeout or a double play right here. Back to the top of the order now. And that means Kevin Kiermeier will hit next. First pitch of the at bat on its way. A ball and no strikes. Looking at his lifetime numbers. Kiermeier is slugging just a little over 400. Not a huge threat but he can certainly square one up on occasion. One oh pitch. Swing and a miss one and one. With the way this guy's throwing on the mound you cannot be chasing. You have to set your sights a little bit lower and control the strike zone. One in one pitch. Hey they tried to tie him up on that last pitch so I like that they went away with this one. The execution didn't work but I like the idea behind it. First and second here with nobody out now three and one. You fight so hard to get into these type of counts. You can't let this pitch get away from you. You have to keyhole something middle of the plate. Here's the three one. Swung on but fouled off to the left lays off their ball for so back to back walks have him in business here with nobody out. And that's two free passes in the third inning alone. So you have to wonder if maybe it's something mechanical or if it's just psychological. Got to get back on track here. Standing in now with runners in scoring position Jose Martinez and he could give his guys an early lead if he can come through here. He's ready. Here's the first offering pitcher on the mound has to find a way to minimize damage right here. Got to believe he's willing to trade two outs for a run. Just way too patient in this situation with the bases loaded like this. This is your chance to be the hero. Oh and two here it comes. Hey this is a monster strikeout situation right here. The double play would be great in this situation but I know he's going for the K you get a one to count on a guy. He's going to throw his nastiest stuff the opposite way. Judge is there. Let's see if they try it. And with only one away. No need to test it as he'll hold tight at third base. Now that. Right. Bigging in for his second at that Austin Meadows he looked to bounce back after striking out his last time up and he can't allow the same thing to happen in this situation. This is a big time spot in this game. He's got to find a way to put the ball in play. Strike one to start the ad back. That's in there. And he's deep in the hole now. Oh and two. So back to back sliders for strikes. Does he come back with yet another. Hey that's back to back really good sliders. I wouldn't be surprised if you threw another one right here. Looks like he's got that slide ball in his back pocket right now. Got him swinging on the fastball there. Austin Meadows is at number two here in the third inning. The first pitch to him is in there for a called strike one and a golden opportunity here to give his guys the lead with three men aboard. Look quick on that swing and he finds himself behind oh and two. No balls two strikes and he comes back to get him. So a great job pitching out of it with the bases loaded back to back strikeouts keep them out of danger. More of the show Saturday baseball after this. Digging in now for the Yankees. Giorgio having a very nice year currently second in the American League and batting average entering play. This season really shouldn't come as a surprise to many. We all know what kind of skill this guy produces when he has a bat as hands. First delivery to him on the way and a high strike to begin the at bat. It's oh and one. That's a pitch he'd like to have back. You're not going to see very many pitches like that from a pitcher of this quality. I'm sure he'd like to have that one back to take a swing at it. And he fouls this one off stays alive still oh and two thing in two count and the pitch. It won't matter at strike three called anyway and that's out number one. You know I'm not quite sure how that strikeout will be scored looking or swinging. He tried to check his swing but I'm pretty sure the home plate umpire was ringing him up regardless. At the plate look boy as he will take a fastball in there at the knees for strike one. He comes in with that average down in the 240s. A dozen home runs 26 RBI wind up and the 0 1. Well above the letters with the fastball that time. Hey if you're going to throw a pitch like that to this guy that's right where you want to miss any lower and he'll probably make you pay for it.  The 2 1. This is swung on and missed his fifth strikeout already and there are two gone in the inning. Two up two down on strikes in this inning. He looks really sharp out there guys. So here's the veteran Brett Gardner as he'll try to hold back on the swing but he went around for the first strike. One for one after a single this first time up. He takes something off there and had him way out in front for strike two. Man this has been a game filled of a lot of swings and misses. Not very many confident swings and this team up there. They swing at a butterfly right now for two in front of the plate. Lots of swings lots of misses a lot of ugly at bats for this team right now. Struck him out so he makes quick work of him here three straight strikeouts and the side is retired. So the Yankees go one two three will head to the fourth still scoreless. Stepping up now. Yandy Diaz he'll start things out here in a tie ball game. This game is rolling right along as we move into the middle innings with no score. You'd think by now one of these two teams would be able to get some base runners on to get him in but that hasn't been the case. Filed off. That's him to swing at a pitch down and out of his own one and two still all zeros in the run column here in the fourth inning. Dan does this continue or does somebody score here. Oh you have to love you know Matt we have so many of these games that are 12 to 10 and nine to eight. It's nice to see a low scoring pitchers do for once and this will get through in the left for a lead off hit. We take a look at the numbers up to this point. You see he's only given up two hits so far today so he's been hitting his spots all game long. Remains to be seen if he can keep that shot out intact going forward but I'm not betting against him. Blake now Brandon Lau as he'll take a look at ball one 0 4 1 for him here in this one is swung on and missed in that strike one. Hey he's got great feel for that pitch right there. He can throw it anytime he wants for a strike. Here's a fly ball well hit. He's going back on the warning track. He makes the catch and this throw gets away from him. One out here in the Tampa Bay fourth and that brings up the corner infielder G man joy. First pitch of the at bat on its way. Shocked he didn't let it fly right there. Usually you're looking for a fastball elevated to get the party started. One count here it comes. The ball misses in the dirt as he tried to get him to chase the low one. Troy a six foot one inch left handed hitter but throws right handed. He was taken in the second round back in the 2015 MLB draft. Yeah he has turned himself into a really nice ball player. I wouldn't put him on a superstar level but you know what they didn't miss with this pick either. You go into high rounds and you carve out a career the way this guy has. Nice pick the one two and that misses so it's a full count three and two. You could see the runner in motion here on a three to count with one out. There's a pretty good chance he's going to get a pitch to swing it. And if not it's ball four anyways after getting the strike out on the fastball. Not a bad time to check out our pitch speed comparison for our two starters. And whoa look at that for a top speed 98 miles an hour. That man is flat dealing ready for another chance. Willie Adam is a base hit in his first trip. Here's the pitch off the plate and away there one ball no strikes. No runs two hits and no errors for Tampa Bay so far to the left side but it's well foul. One one home is swung on and missed for strike number two. Classic case of the front shoulder flying open on that off speed needs to stay compact and stay in the big part of the field. One and two here it comes. Now a fastball awfully close but he doesn't get the call. It's two and two now misses this one inside and that'll run things full three and two.  He'll be off to the races on this pitch. Pay off pitch home and a good at bat that time as he lays off for ball four. And as a result that'll move a runner up into scoring position now with two away. He did not want to let the hitter off the hook with two outs and now he's got a runner in scoring position to deal with. Here now is Mike Zanino two men on two away here in the fourth gone its way now to Zanino who started in with the challenge and it's nothing in one. After the walk and with runners on the bags he couldn't afford to fall behind here. Nice job of jumping ahead with strike one. And with two men out he looks like he's playing with him here it's 0 and 2. He's attacking this hitter a lot more aggressively than he did the first time when he faced him and issued a walk coming right after him here. Hit to third and do harsh got it. And the two out threat will not come to pass as the inning is over. Ray strand a pair on to the bottom of the fourth now still with no score. And that'll bring up Miguel and do hard. He starts off the inning against a guy who struck out the side last inning. How do they get to him here. I'm not sure that they want to stay as patient. He's been throwing a lot of strikes. They might want to start swinging a little bit earlier in the count. First pitch coming. Here it is. Anduha tends to exploit left handed pitching. Many hitters are better against opposite handed arms of course but he's considered one of the best hitters in baseball in these types of matchups. Off the outside that time as the breaking ball can't catch the zone. The fastball in here to get the count back to two and one.  Failed away. Swing and a miss. Five straight strikeouts now and there's one gone. Man he is looking flat out unhittable on the mound right now. That's five straight punch outs. I love it but I think he might want to get his defense involved at some point so they don't fall asleep. And that'll bring up Aaron Judge as he can't catch up on a fastball in letters and it's strike one. So far 0 for one with a fly out. Fastball misses inside. It's even at one. And he misses two and one.  Got him to chase after the curve ball below the zone there. That was a really nice pitch. It can be a really tough one to lay off of as a hitter. Two two. He has swung on and missed. He got him on strikes. No better way to minimize the potential damage a cleanup hitter can help them to strike out both guys in front of him. Always a confidence boost when you can sit down the guys at the top of the lineup and digging into the batter's box next will be Giancarlo Stanton as he would look at a first pitch fastball for ball one. He's 0 for one thus far. Holds slowly down the third baseline. The ending is going to continue here as he reaches on an infield single. Now that. Yeah nobody on right there Dan two outs. It's not every day you see a guy pick him up and put him down a first base right there bought himself a base head. Well I'd say what if you do a couple of things you can do doesn't take a lot of talent to hustle and doesn't take talent to be on time and he hustled out of the box turned what could have been a ground out to any inning into an infield single. Now the pitch slow roller down the third baseline and he'll smartly just ensure that this stays a foul ball. This is why pitching is so difficult. You're cruising along to give up a hit. Now you've got the lock in and get this middle part of the order done. Other one fouled off and he's quickly behind 0 and 2. Swung on and this ball is absolutely crushed. Forget about it. Boom goes the dynamite from homerun off the bat of Gary Sanchez homerun number 16 for him on the year and this is now a two to nothing lead for the Yankees. Hey that's the price you pay right there when you try and sneak a fastball pass this guy power hitter and every power hitter in the league knows you got to start with the numero uno number one man you got to get on the heater and adjust to everything else. And he did just that. The basement DJ will make you as the first pitch misses to limits ball one. So far 0 for 1 with a fly out. It goes the other way and he drives it out to deep right center field shot to right center third homerun for him on the year as the Yankees move out to a three to nothing lead. Excellent swing right there. That's multiple home runs in the same inning. Watch yourself. You're missing over the heart of the plate. It's going to change up. You can't find the zone. It's all one. Here's one fouled off to the right is to count evens at one and one. Hey last two pitches back to back off speed. Then he's laid on the fastball. He could pretty much do anything he wants right here on the mound and he lays off this one down and in for ball two. Well I think he just kind of lost focused on the ball there. It's clearly not going his way and he's thinking more about that than the task at hand. And right now he needs to think about this hitter and this one's going to bounce up to the plate and easy take there. It's three and one now. Hey he's had great command all day. Want to see how aggressive he is in the zone with a three ball count. His motion. Here comes the three and one.  That kind of stuff goes both ways though. Hitters get their fair share of crummy calls going against them too. Next will be the designated hitter. Giorg Shella comes into this at bat 0 for 1 in the ball game. First pitch of the at bat on its way and he'll try to crowd him there to start the at bat. It's one and all and there's a fastball well off the plate inside. It's a lot easier to hit when you're putting yourself in good hitters counts. This guy's done a great job not swinging pitchers pitches and when he's getting the ball in the zone he's getting the barrel to it. He's been hot lately. Now the 2 0 is offered at it missed for the first strike. When the pitcher on the mound is establishing this kind of heater you've got to come off everything else and find a way to get that bad head in the zone. Hit hard on the ground at first and he'll step on the bag himself and the inning is over. So two home runs in the inning lead to three runs on the scoreboard. If you're full it's the Yankees three the raise nothing. Welcome back Heidi Watney standing by as we get set for the top of the fifth. Matt Race Manager Kevin Cash talked to me in between innings about his lineups offensive production and flat out he was very pleased with the quality of their at bats. He cited the four walks they've earned already as evidence that his guys are waiting for the right pitch and that they're willing to let the opposition work themselves off. Thank you Heidi. So it's back to the top of the order now and that means Kevin Kiermeier will hit next. Kevin Kiermeier. Third baseman in tight protecting the bunt the first pitch. Good curve ball there against the swing and miss some action out in the bullpen couple of right handers starting to loosen up into the wind up. Here comes the oh and one count one in one day B up into this point a walk right here could really just infuse some confidence into this lineup. Three one good eye here as he takes ball four and it's a base on balls to lead off the fifth inning. Well they haven't been able to scratch a run across yet. So maybe this walk would jump start their offense a little bit. The plate now for the Rays is the DH Jose Martinez 0 4 2 from him so far in this one. First pitch coming here it is and here's a fastball called for strike one fastball that crowds him a bit and it's one and one. No runs two hits and no errors for Tampa Bay so far. And he looks at one in there one and two probably better that he let that pitch go anyway after seeing a lively fastball on the pitch before. It's pretty hard to sit back enough on a well thrown change up that one misses badly. It's ball two line driving that's a base hit in the center field. Hey sometimes you just got to tip your cap right there. You execute a nice pitch down in the zone. Think you're going to get a ground ball or a swing and a miss and you find yourself with a man on first got to regroup to the plate now. Austin Meadows as you look at a breaking ball that misses for ball one. Well they've yet to hang a number on the scoreboard but it looks like they've got a great opportunity from the breakthrough going to be pretty demoralizing if they can't ball swung on and heading for the stands in right and that will move the count to one and two now kicks and deals he struck him out the third time he's fanned in the game. Wow that's the case right there where pitcher knows this guy's up there and he's in swing mode. That pitch wasn't even close to the strike zone and he's still swung at it. Here comes the Yankee manager now up out of the dugout on his way to the mound and he's going to make a move as that's going to be all for his starter this afternoon. So he'll head to the dugout after working just four and a third not enough to qualify for the victory as his bullpen will have to go a long way to hang on to the lead. Luis Sessa takes the mound to try to get out of this mess. There are two on with only one away Hunter Renfrow looks at a fastball that's in there for strike one. He's hit listen is to add bats so far for one pitch now the double steal is on here. Mitch misses low the throw down it skips in and he's safe close play but he's in there one one home is a slider taken for a ball. A couple of strikeouts early in a game but he's done a much better job than this at bat trying to get ahead and put himself in a good hitters count. He's falling behind now three and one. Got a good spot to be in right now. Pitch has fallen behind an account with a guy up that hits really well with runners in scoring position. It's fouled away three and two pitch pulled high in the air out to left field. Stanton has a read on it. He's there to make the catch and here comes the runner from third as this should get him on the board and they are on the board. It's a sack fly in an RBI to make this a three to one game now in now. Yandy Diaz. He steps in off a base hit in his last at bat. Yeah. And they take another single right here that third base coach is dying to wave his arms. I wouldn't be surprised if anything hit hard through the infield. He's going to wave him to out here in a runner at second on the third base line but a foul ball one and one from the stretch slow roller after short for his picks it up throw on the board takes care of him and the ending is over. Razel settle for just the one home half of the fifth coming up. It's the Yankees three the raised one how at the plate look boy and Dan I'm sure the starter on the mound like hit the rewind button on that last inning. No doubt about that Mac that was a really rocky frame but clearly not enough to chase him from this game. We'll see if he's still shaking a bit or if he's able to put this behind him ready to deliver. Here's the first pitch and he takes ball one action in the raised pen now as they've got a lefty and a right hander up and throwing the wind up and the 1 0 pitch. Adamus brings it in and there's one away to the top of the order now. And up next the left handed hitting Brett Gardner first offering on its way into the wind up. Here comes the 0 and 1 and he fouls this one off comes the nothing in two pitch fouled off. This is pulled into right corner. Meadows is there to down now better the third base man so bases are empty here with two gone and striding into the plate. It'll be Miguel and do hard first pitch of the at bat and he lays off there one and oh two outs nobody on but a base runner here feels like it would really change the complexion of the inning big spot right here middle of the order guys coming up and see if he can extend the inning and this is in the dirt and it's 2 and 0 now.  Here's the 2 and 1 pitch well he snapped that breaking ball off really nice. He'll do well to keep putting it there three to one our score as we play any number five fouled away and he's got himself another one as he picks up strikeout number nine here and the side is retired one two three go to bombers as the lead remains three to one up next to the race. Brendan Lowe he struck out and flight out over to so far things not looking very good so far in this one but we're still in the middle innings they're down by a couple of runs and this would be the right place in the right time to get something going. The last thing they want to do is to try to come from behind it and win this one in the eighth or ninth inning ball one to start the at bat the 1 0 home. Sessa the native of Mexico is a five year vet at the major league level out the 2 0 swing in a miss. That's the first strike.  It's going to be tough to score some runs to two and two now. Hey he's got excellent stuff working right now. Somebody has to make an adjustment. You're seeing a lot of late swings. No one's getting a front foot down. No one's getting a barrel to the baseball. There's a breaking ball but it's laid off and doesn't find the zone. A pitch home and it's fouled away into the wind up ready with the payoff pitch. Count remains full still three balls and two strikes the eighth pitch of the at bat hit sharply on the ground and a base hit so the leadoff man is aboard. Dan how frustrating that must be eight pitch at bat and he's able to work a base hit. He threw everything with the kitchen sink at him. He threw off speed pitches fastballs and on the eighth pitch left one out over the plate just enough for a base hit. So now to the plate. G-man joined as the first pitch to him is off the plate for a ball one and oh he's offered to in the ballgame so far out here it is rolled slowly down the first base line right to him and he won't even try it at second as he flips to the picture covering to get the shoe around a runner at second one away and up next will be Willie Adams ready with the first pitch. Here it comes. Oh and won the count hits are now even at four apiece and this is pulled fouled as he was way out in front there ready with the O2 fastball well off the plate for a ball boy he sped him up in this at bat. Now it's time for the change up. This guy's got a good one yet in this at bat hit out towards second. LeMay Hughes got it and that's the second out and that'll bring up the catcher Mike Zanino first pitch of the at bat on its way. Hey I don't have a problem with him taking a pitch right there. It's a good opportunity to see what he's got also a good opportunity to see if he's going to be pounding the strike zone tying run at the plate the 0 1 goodness 0 and 2 now have to find a way to take a deep breath right through. I know the umpire missed one but you can't allow the next couple of pitches to be dictated by one bad call. Find a way. Wave dad and missed for the third out not much of a chance at hitting that one in the inning is over one left for Tampa. They still trail it here three to one Trevor Richards enters to do the pitching in the bottom of the sixth out at the plate Aaron judge he set to start it out for the Yanks here in the sixth to deliver. Here's the first pitch just off the outside that time laid off for a ball like to see him be looking to the opposite field with this next swing pitchers trying to work you away. Swing and a miss on the heater and it's two and one he's really given some leeway on the outside edge here two and two now two balls two strikes a crucial count for both pitcher and hitter. So Dan what was your approach on the mound in that county is still pitch for the strike out here. Action pitch right here to two the last thing you want to do is to fall behind and count three two. So we ran the fastball by him for the punch out Aaron judge becomes the first out in the bottom of the sixth inning. Giancarlo Stanton now as he'll take a cold strike here on a borderline pitch at strike one one for two in the ball game thus far started to go around there but he holds up ball one one one is fastball that misses. That's a tough call for blue right there.  Call didn't go his way on two and one but it's important here on three and one to still make a quality pitch. You have to have the mindset that you're still the one in the driver's seat high in the air out towards shallow right Meadows will come in a bit and put it away for the second out of the inning. Now that hitter Gary Gary Sanchez will stand in again as we flash you back here to the fourth inning. This was a two run home run that was definitely one of the big blows of the ballgame to this point. Outfield shaded a bit to left center the first pitch. This is in high in the air out toward left center. Kiermeyer on the run. He's there to make the play and that'll retire the side. So the Yanks go one two three and it's still three to one. Zach Britton is on to pitch from the bullpen now to start inning number seven number fifty three off the inning. Kevin Kiermeyer as they'll look to get something going here and even this game up even though we're moving into the back end of this game they're only down by a couple of runs. You know that old slogan of bloop and a blast. They could certainly use that right now. No balls in one strike set and the 0 1 it's taken for a ball as that slider broke off the plate into the corner and slicing foul swung on and miss really fooled him that time for the first out. It's always nice to keep a guy that has good wheels off base and that's just what they did right there. Big strikeout. Keep that guy off the base path.  He's got a hidden three at bats to this point the 1 0 misses ball two. Hey this is a real pesky hitter right here as a pitcher. You really like to keep this guy off the bases. This is a guy that kind of sets the tables for big innings. Here it comes to an old pretty good cut there but it's two and one now in my opinion one of the toughest pitches in the game to square up just a heavy sinker with good downward action way inside with that one a pretty easy take there. Sanker misses ball for the hitter was dug in looking for something to hit but he would have needed a telephone ball to hit that thing off way out of the zone. Next to the plate for Tampa Bay Austin Meadows three at bats for him in this one all ending with him going down on strikes pitch coming here it is tried to check it in its own one according to the career numbers on the back of his baseball card Meadows has a batting line residing in the two 90s looking to boost that even higher here on its way the 0 1 pitch. What a nasty pitch right there batter thought it was going to hit him and it ends up breaking into the zone for a strike. Hot shot down the line but a foul ball and the count holds it 0 and 2 we're in the seventh inning with a good finish brewing three to one on score and he fouls this one off that's inside and low it's a ball and two strikes. Mrs. Ball 2 2 2 out from 0 and 2 to 3 and 2 in that last pitch on two and two wasn't even close. He had this guy in the ropes but now he let him right back into this at bat. Count is full. Here's the pitch. Pitch popped up Sanchez has a play makes the play and there are two gone now. Chat Green will get the ball here as he looks to get the final out in the top of the plate for the seven Hunter Renfro will be the first to greet him here as he stands in with the runner at first and two away about the pitch and it looks like the Yankees will have a left hander up and throwing in the bullpen. Here comes the 1 0 first with two away and he misses ball four so he comes out of the bullpen and immediately walks the first man he faces so coming to the plate. Yandy Diaz and Dan this could be a real maker break situation at this point in the game. Yeah man at least scoring one run in this inning is so important to them to possibly get back into this thing. Baseball doesn't have a clock but you only have 27 hours to work with. They're running out of those pretty quick. Big a lot of this. Here it is in the right field. That's a base hit. Nothing fires me up more than watching an offensive player stay inside a baseball and drive it the other way. Digging in and looking for more Brandon Lau has got the bases loaded now and a chance to really do some damage and he's one of those guys that they really rely on to come through with spots like this man second on the team and once batted in the first pitch to him. This is a tough situation to be on the mound but the key here is minimizing their up by two so he could find a way to get out of this base is loaded jam by only giving up one run. That would be clutch. He said the 0 1 fouled off strikes him out. So a missed opportunity at the plate as he strands three runners in the side is retired fine work there out of the Yankee bullpen. We'll move on now to the bottom half of the seventh get up and stretch the Yankees lead at three to one pick things up where we left off DJ LeMayhew will start things out here in the bottom of ending number seven. He had the last at that when he hit that whole run on an off speed pitch. He didn't really crush it but he certainly hit it well enough to drive it out of the ball park. Upper part of the zone there but taken for a strike. No one to now nothing in two count and the pitch. Now a swing and a fly ball right fielder is on the run but this will land untouched the next oh two misses for ball one fastball in the dirt that's taken for a ball to two bouncer to the left side throw on to first in time one away digging in Torres it was a walk in his last trip first pitch of the at bat on its way tried to check it in its own one and this misses the outside corner so it's not it up at one and one Yankee shortstop behind in the count one and two it's not easy to get your barrel to a pitch that high that could be an effective location as long as he keeps it above the letters right side but it's going to be a foul ball right to shoot the corner and he missed it two and two and this guy's a grinder fouls off good pitches and doesn't seem to swing at the ones just off the corner. This guy's a pitcher's nightmare and that would never threaten the zone it's gone full now to three and two three to counts are usually a time to challenge the hitter but I think he'll be careful here shoot for the corner and if you miss and you walk him so what that's better than him putting one in the seats scorched to third and just past his outstretched glove in the left of base hit took him till the seventh but he gets his first hit of the game here and that'll extend his hitting streak. Yeah and he didn't come out of his he didn't come out of what he was trying to do all day then kept the front shoulder tough kept the ice water in his veins and didn't try and get too big extends the hitting streak. Nice job. You know D. Row I talked to him before the game about the streak. He said the toughest part is he hopes to get hits early in the game to take the pressure off. He had to wait to the seventh inning in this one to come through. Keirmeyer is there now and he has it to God. Look boy no hits to this point. First pitch of the at bat is swinging strike and now it's 0 and 2 lined hard toward right center and this is into the alley and ought to be good for extra bases. So now they'll have two men in scoring position following the two out double. This guy just feast on mistakes up of the zoning and that's exactly what he gets right here a belt high pitch he drives into the alley. Great chance now with two runners in scoring position. Brett Gardner hit the ball pretty well in his last at bat but it resulted in a line out. Yeah pretty unlucky right there. Matty squared up a fastball nicely and that's all you can do. You just want to be on time with the header and he's prepared for this next day. He said here it comes. He said the 0 1 breaking ball below the zone. That's ball one runs away for ball 2 2 and 1.  Look for him to put the ball and play hard. Here's a looping fly ball out to right. That gets down as one run is in. Yeah nowadays the number crunchers would call that a high leverage at that. Not exactly sure what that means. But what I do know is they just double their lead. So he clutched up big time right there into the box now Miguel Andujan as he will take a look at a fastball in there as that strike zone expands just a little it's 0 1. He's hitless in three at bats to this point. He checks his swing. Did he go around. Yes says the first base umpire strike 2 is ready. Here's the 0 2 pitch. There's a swing and he sends a ball high in the air into left field and he will crash into the wall but hold on to it there for the final out of the inning one more look at the final out at teeth rattler if ever there was one more from the show Saturday baseball following this message and a word from our local stations. New ending set to get underway now at the plate. G-man showing he was retired via the ground ball last time up. He was very promising so far in this one as we move into the later innings down by a bundle it's time to get some base runners and hopefully a long ball to get them back into this one. Here comes the first pitch in there for strike one 0 1 probably a design take right there. They need base runners so they're going to make them try to bring the ball in the strike zone. Oh one count. Here's the pitch. Big swing and a miss at the fastball. He's behind in the count I try and tell people all the time you're facing 90 to ninety two ninety four. You can still see seams it starts getting above ninety four. It starts to blur itself a little bit. You start pitching where this guy's at. You're seeing nothing. You're seeing vapor. Now a fastball here that will wisely lay off and it's one and two pretty good pitch right there fastball in off the plate. One of the things you want to do as a pitcher try to stand those hitters up. He's set and the one two pitch. Man that's one of those how could you not swing at that one. A good take there on that pitch. Here now the two to. From 0 and 2 to 3 and 2. What a great at back to start this inning off. Hey this could be a productive inning. And this is hit hard to the right side. Follow. Next three to. Is a swing and a miss that strike three. Oh man he's been absolutely getting overmatched the plate the last couple of games. That's his fifth strikeout in this series alone. So clearly this pitching staff they figure out how to attack this guy. We'll see if he can make any adjustments. The box Willie Adams as the first pitchers have been high it's ball one. A hidden two tries for him so far. Good luck with that pitch. That pitch is an absolute nightmare almost unhittable nasty downward action. High 80s velocity. Three and one. On deck the big bat of Mike Zanino in one pitch. Hit on the ground out to short throw gets him nice play for the out settling in now. Mike Zanino two away here in the eighth and times running out on him Danny. Yeah they don't have a lot of outs left to work with so it's time for someone to make something happen that they're going to get back into this thing. Now here it comes starts him with a good rising fastball there for strike one got a lover reliever that comes in firing bullets in his fastball is a good one. Oh and you talk about a pitcher getting the benefit of the doubt. That's low but called the strike anyway. Nothing in two now a one in two count to the raise catcher. He wasn't even close to swinging right there. That was a stone cold take five one our score as we play the eighth missed there on a late breaking slider as he set down on strikes for the second time this afternoon raised go in order one two three. They're down five to one digging in to try it again Aaron judge over three with a couple of strikeouts for him to this point in the ballgame first delivery to him on the way now the two oh gets him out in front on a good change up what I love right there is just a freedom in that hack. He ain't trying to do anything but hit the baseball as far as he can and he missed again high and away this time three and one don't go too far. The dangerous Giancarlo Stanton gets his shot next three and one pitch line drive to left solid base hit for him his first of the afternoon. So it's a lead off base hit to open their half of the eighth and now Giancarlo Stanton fouled away. He's working on a one for three thus far that misses wide one ball and one strike outside nearly to the backstop two and one heading out towards shallow right Meadows moving back but he won't get there it falls in and it's not in time as he's in well ahead of the throw. Hey pictures you better start taking notice of this guy. He better be circled on that lineup. He's on fire. That's his second hit in a ballgame right there and I don't seem stopping Diego Castillo comes on now in an awfully difficult situation as there are two on here with nobody out play now. Gary Sanchez as he'll look at a fastball too high for ball one. He's got a hit in three at bats to this point chopped a third tough to get to the tag gets one on the first so he comes right out of the bullpen and gets the double play now back. Second baseman D.J. Love. Thank you. Standing in D.J. LeMahieu runner in scoring position with Suga liver here's the first pitch and action now in the Tampa Bay pen as it looks like a right hander's begun to get loose. Here's the one oh same pitch that time the sinker but it looked like he made a good adjustment with it. Yeah man that's a great point released it from out front much better that time. I just think he wasn't real happy with the first one he threw so he wanted to get the field back for the one to and this one's in the dirt but it won't skip away far enough for the runner to advance a swing and a miss as he chased with two strikes and that will retire the side. Yanks leave one there up five to one Ben Heller comes on from the pen hoping to finish this one off here in the top of the ninth. Here's Kevin Kiermeier over to form to this point ready with the first pitch here it comes now here it comes outside for a ball one and one two and one to the raised leadoff batter the two one not surprisingly here this is on the ground to the right side and an off balance throw is in time as he takes one away. Wow digging in now Jose Martinez it was a walk in his last trip he's ready. Here's the first offering a fastball off the plate away it's ball one started to go around but it's ruled strike one anywhere one half nobody on two balls in a straight hit on the ground out to short for his has it throw to first he'll be in time and the Razor now down to their final out now that the right deal off them. Stepping into the box Austin Meadows he comes to the plate as the last chance for his side two out here in the ninth delivery to him on the way and that misses one and one swing and a shot hit down the corner but it bends just foul into the second deck round of over 39 thousand on their feet that's easy to lay off and it's back to even at two and two Tampa down to their final strike in this one and he tries to get him to reach for it but it stays outside three and two. Wow talk about a waste pitch on two and two that one wasn't even it always feels good to win a baseball game but when you can win one at home in front of your home crowd all those fans cheering this is a good win for this team five to one the final total in today's game. The New York Yankees took the lead in the fourth and held on until the end. Louis Sessa wins his fourth game out of a bullpen this year. So that just about does it for Mark Derosa Dan please act Heidi Watney and our entire crew. I'm Matt Vaskers and you've been watching MLB the show for more. Make your way over to the show nation dot com.