Worcester City Board of Health cancels meeting for lack of quorum; reschedules for Oct. 20

The Worcester City Board of Health did not hold a formal meeting after members present determined they did not have a quorum and the city solicitor advised against conducting business, the board said. Members present agreed to reschedule the meeting for Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Board members and staff gathered for the scheduled meeting but were short a number needed to transact official business. “So the next piece, at this moment in time, we do not have a quorum for this meeting,” the chair said during the meeting. The chair also announced that board member Charice Allen had submitted a resignation to the city manager after moving her residence outside the city.

Tamara Lundy, director of the Division of Public Health, said the group could hold an informational meeting but that formal motions would not be permitted. “We are allowed to have an informational meeting. We will not be doing any motions, because we're not allowed to do that,” Lundy said. Alexander Kellogg, the city solicitor, advised the board not to proceed with discussions or decisions that required a quorum. “Through the chair, I would not proceed with the meeting as any topics that aren't tonight's meeting, even a discussion, if there's no quorum, should not happen,” Kellogg said.

Board members and staff said they had tried without success to reach other absent members by phone and text. Leon Negron Cruz informed staff earlier that he could not attend, and another member, identified as Mike Perrado in the meeting, had not joined the call. Because the group lacked a quorum, no motions, votes or official actions were taken.

Those present asked members of the public who had come to speak to accept the rescheduled date. “So I think that if it's okay with the people in the room, we would kind of reschedule this meeting for October 20 at 06:30,” the chair said. Participants in the room agreed to the date.

The board recorded the resignation of Charice Allen and the absence of scheduled members; no other agenda items were discussed or acted on. The board did not take formal action to fill vacancies or to adopt any minutes or orders because of the lack of a quorum. The rescheduled meeting will be expected to follow the same agenda as the night that was postponed, officials said.

Meeting participants listed in the transcript included members and staff from the Division of Public Health and the city solicitor's office; the board plans to reconvene on the rescheduled date for any substantive items requiring formal action.