Waltham City Councilor Eyes City Clerk Job

WALTHAM, MA — This week a City Councilor announced he was relinquishing his seat on the City Council at the end of this year, as he was eyeing the City Clerk's job.

"It’s an opportunity for others to get active and involved. I left Ward 5 in a good place I think. I’m not walking away. I’m not moving. I’m still here. I’ll still have a voice," Gary Marchese of Ward 5 told Patch.

Marchese has been on the City Council since 1998 following the passing of his mother.

"In her memory I wanted to be of service of some kind. She always loved politics she also loved children. I thought it would be a good way to give back to the community keeping her in mind," he said.

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He remembers that first race against fellow Waltham attorney Michael Delaney as a gentlemen's race. But since joining the council Marchese has had his fair share of ups and downs and tough votes.

The most difficult? The closing of the Waltham Hospital, remembers Marchese. About a dozen years ago the hospital was threatening to close and a zone change came before the City Council by a developer.

"It was a pretty complicated mess. He wanted to make significant changes to the area around the hospital. He promised if he got the zoning change he’d be able to get the funding to keep it open. Of course we were all skeptical," Marchese remembers.

The whole community was involved, there was a public hearing at the high school and then the council looked at it carefully and decided to approve the zone change.

"In retrospect I don’t regret the vote but the hospital closed within a year of the vote," he says with a sigh. "The good thing is that the vote created beautiful housing.... But it was a difficult time for the whole city. When you lose a hospital it’s like losing a child."

Then the second most difficult was more recent. The Stigmatine vote.

"It’s really no doubt it’s divided the community. But in the end I was very comfortable with the way I voted," he said of his vote not to purchase the property of the religious group to use as another high school.

On June 12, the council voted to file the matter by a vote of 8-to-7.

Marchese says his whole experience on the council was one with a record that supported initiatives to improve quality of life for the community members. He rattles of a list of accomplishments including renovating parks and open spaces reconstructing schools and building spray parks all over the city. Decisions that were made by the City Council.

"In my ward I have a deeply religious base," he said. In fact, he'd been an alter boy at the Sacred Heart Parish growing up and knew the Marist Missionary Sisters well and then there were the folks in his ward that opposed the idea of strong arming a religious group out of their land.

Regrets?

But who doesn't have regrets?

He says he wouldn't have approved 36 River Street as it was.

"It’s just too dense. It’s too big for the landscape. I understand it’s part of the riverfront overlay district - it’s where we want developers to be creative and create housing, and that’s the reason I supported it. It was inviting people to come to Waltham and live and enjoy Waltham and its growth. But if I could do it over again, I would have wanted the developer to scale down the project," he said.

But there have been plenty of moments to be proud of, too, including the park renovation.

"During my tenure on the City Council, we have taken action to improve the quality of life for all of Waltham: the former South Middle School is now the Cultural Center, the Bright School is now the Waltham Archives Center, and the Army Corps of Engineer Land is now Veteran's Fields. We spear-headed the complete renovation of Harding Field behind the High School, we removed every wading pool in the City and replaced them with Spray Parks, and we renovated every Baseball Park in the City, except Elsie Turner Park which is scheduled to be redesigned this year.

"I am most proud of my advocacy to renovate and reopen the Connors Memorial Pool on River Street, a magnificent zero-entry pool operated by solar power for all generations to enjoy," he wrote Patch.

Before he leaves

There's a little parcel of land next to the car wash and mail near the corner of River and Elm that he's working on acquiring. "It’s a critical parcel in my opinion for parking in the down town," he said.

And then there's the matter of a high school location, now that the Stigmatine question seems to be closed.

"I think that will become a little bit more clear soon," he said.

And then?

Marchese will continue as councilor til the end of the year. And then he might just apply for the City Clerk's position.

"If an when Russ Malone retires, I’ll apply for the City Clerk’s position. That’s a big commitment," he said.

Marchese has been practicing law for 35 years, though, and to take the City Clerk job would mean letting go of that identity as well as the councilor role.

"It’s almost like I'm giving up two careers to maybe take a third one. But I’ve given it some thought and i think it would be a good fit for me," he said.

And yes, he has talked to Malone about it.

"We’re good friends we go way back. He lives in ward 5," says Marchese. "I can’t comment on where he’s at right now. I do know the position might become vacant soon, or within the next 6 months to a year."

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Photo of City Hall by Jenna Fisher/Patch