Melrose's Zwirko Is Ready To Move The City And Himself Forward

MELROSE, MA — It's a windy 30 degrees, and he's not halfway through a 2.5-mile walk discussing the city. It's cold. But not cold enough to take an innocent crosswalk shortcut.

"I'm an elected official. I can't jaywalk."

Mike Zwirko is keenly aware of just what he is, even as a relative newcomer to politics. It's that frankness and self-awareness that bleeds through a two-hour conversation not two weeks after he was unanimously voted President of the Board of Alderman at a non-binding caucus, and just days after Mayor Robert Dolan's candidacy for the Lynnfield Town Administrator position became public.

Fast forward a few weeks and Zwirko is excited about his promotion. Of course, it's not the one he expected while waiting for that "Walk" sign to flash.

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Charter Rules

It's ironic that it was Zwirko who last fall invoked Section 9-6 of the City Charter, which states the Charter should be reviewed every decade. It had been 12 years since the last one. So the Charter was combed through, and one section that would soon be under a microscope escaped unchanged.

Section 3-10 states that if a vacancy occurs within the first two years of a mayoral term, then a special election will be held within 90 days of the vacancy. If the office becomes vacant after the beginning of the mayor's third year, the president of the Board of Aldermen would assume the role of mayor.

Monday, Jan. 8, was the beginning of Dolan's third year. There was no urgency to amend Section 3-10 because, let's face it, Dolan had been mayor for 16 years.

Then Lynnfield came a-knockin'. Then Dolan was revealed to be a finalist. Then Dolan was unanimously voted as the new town administrator for that town.

And just like that, Section 3-10 was all anyone could talk about. The timing of the Lynnfield position left Dolan in an unenviable position: Leave before Jan. 8 and be accused of eroding the integrity of the charter. Leave after Jan. 8 and be subject to chirping about taking power away from the people.

Meanwhile, it left the Board of Aldermen in an uncomfortable position.

The members should know the Charter inside and out, including the grimy details of Section 3-10. But it was only after Dolan's leaving became a possibility that Aldermen Gail Infurna, Monica Medeiros, and John Tramontozzi threw their names into the hat, despite having already voted for Zwirko.

The stakes had been raised.

Meet Mike

You don't need to know where exactly in Western Mass. Zwirko spent his early years - you likely haven't spent enough time in Holyoke or Longmeadow to know the difference. Even fewer of you may have spent time at Zwirko's alma mater, the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. (Anyone? No? Let's move on.)

Let's pick up his story when he moved to Melrose in 2006. He worked for Fidelity, and that company needed employees to fill out Oak Grove Village. He bought a home in June 2008, and he's been firmly snug on Derby Road since.

Zwirko ran for Alderman-at-Large in 2013 and lost by 50 votes. He took another swing in 2015 - one that he said would have been his final if he struck out again.

He finally made the cut. Then, in the 2017 election, he received the most at-large votes for Alderman. He was officially a political veteran.

He isn't quite, ahem, "New" Melrose. He isn't quite "Old" Melrose, either.

Fine by him.

"The new people bring the energy," Zwirko said. "The old people bring the tradition that makes [Melrose] popular."

Whatever you call him, don't say Zwirko is uninformed. His financial expertise fits in well with Melrose's current strengths - he's mentioned several times how necessary it is to keep the city's "financial house in order" to get anything done.

He knows the city must determine whether the influx of school-aged children into a seemingly shrinking schools infrastructure is "a wave or a tide."

"I'd say that's the biggest challenge over the last two years and could be the biggest over the next 4-5 years," he said.

He wants to talk traffic concerns and has myriad thoughts on heating and water infrastructure. It's almost like he's a regular schmuck ... but in a good way. And for good reason.

"Long after I'm an elected official, I'm going to live in Melrose."

Moving On

Zwirko doesn't see the point in faking it: Seeing his close friend Infurna sit in the seat he was thisclose to occupying was tough.

"It was a very challenging and at times difficult process," he said. "But it was also very exciting."

Zwirko proved the night Infurna was named President of the Board that he wouldn't be petty. He requested a final round of voting that night in hopes Infurna's selection - which had already reached a majority vote - would be unanimous. Residents on social media praised the grace with which he lost.

Now, after he's taken some time to lick his admittedly real wounds, he's ready to work together. Zwirko and Infurna have talked privately since she was voted mayor, and it's been productive.

"You can't say Melrose comes first and personally do something differently," Zwirko said a few days before Infurna was sworn in as Melrose's first female mayor. "Either it does or doesn't.

"Gail has 20 years experience, all the credibility to do this job. It sounds cliche but we're stronger together. It was a difficult time for me, but that's personal, and it's better for me and the city that we can have a cordial relationship. It's the only way the city moves forward," he said.

With Infurna promising not to seek the office in 2019, it's natural to assume Zwirko's name will on the shortlist of mayoral candidates. But he says that's too far away to think about right now.

"I would've like to have been president earlier but thats not the way it shook out," Zwirko said. "We still a job to do."

Photo by Mike Carraggi, Patch staff

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