Malden City Council Held First Meeting of 2017

MALDEN - The Malden City Council met Tuesday night at the Senior Center for the first time in 2017.

Newly elected Council President Peg Crowe will lead the Council this year, while outgoing Council President Barbara Murphy received accolades, flowers and thanks.

Retiring long-time City Clerk Karen Anderson also received the warm sendoff. Malden’s new City Clerk, Tom Brennan, ably handled logistics for his first time in this role.

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Crowe provided opening remarks which presented her leadership view of the next year. This, in essence, took the form of a “State of the City Council” address. Crowe’s message emphasized establishing goals for crucial activities and completing those projects initiated in 2016 with meaningful outcomes.

Crowe carefully reconfigured a few council committees with notable changes. She consolidated two separate committees - Appointments and Personnel - into one new committee under the leadership of Councillor DeMaria as the new Chairperson.

As Crowe talked about the Ordinance Committee, she focused on parking activities: “They have done a tremendous amount of work on gathering information and data … My goal is that we take some action.”

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Crowe recognized the work of the Finance Committee: “We’ve been getting a handle on roadwork and a system for completion that needs to be monitored. … We need to keep this on the forefront and not just think that we set it and it goes the right way. Additionally, we will be having some upcoming challenges with road and waterline replacements that need to be addressed.” Crowe shuffled Finance Committee seats, choosing a new Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.

Crowe discussed the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which appeared on the November 2015 ballot. This legally required establishment of a Community Preservation Committee (CPC) which is just beginning to take shape: “We need to set that up strong right from the start … setting up timelines, organizational protocols and procedures, so that we can really have an impactful CPC committee.”

Crowe described council activities she feels could help tie together a vision of Malden when viewed from different perspectives: “We’re always working on a lot of projects and studies … [the building] Moratorium, the ongoing master steering, and the waterfront access. Each of these committees are looking at [a vision of Malden] from a different perspective … [including] building and zoning. … I’d like to see if there are some simple ways … [to] take those and prioritize those and move … things forward so we do have a vision for Malden.” (The Moratorium was another Ballot Question at the 2015 City Election.)

Notably absent from discussion at this first meeting of 2017 was any comment on the “other” ballot question of November 2015. Ballot question #2 was put before voters across the city concerning the Malden Hospital site (which sits vacant and derelict after 16 years). Despite receiving the most "YES" votes, Question #2 has seen the least public action and discussion of all three ballot questions from 2015.

The last time the hospital site was discussed by the Council in any significant public forum was January 12, 2016. At that time, paper #25-16 was introduced as a resolution: “Resolve: That it is the sense of the Malden City Council that, after several months of research and data collection, it is not feasible for the City to acquire the former Malden Hospital site or a portion thereof at this time." Agenda item #25-16 was referred into the Finance Committee but never re-emerged for further Council discussion. One Councillor expressed their desire at that time to "see what our options are as a community" for the hospital site. What is the Council’s plan to address this in 2017?

As we move into 2017, Crowe provides a promising vision for a productive new year of Council activities in Malden. As that vision gains clarity on "what our options are as a community", meaningful outcomes on the major issues before Malden should be well within reach.

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