Election 2017: Questions for City Council Candidates: Malden River and Water Quality

The 2017 Malden City Council elections are approaching. The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. A preliminary election on Sept. 19 determined the final candidates.

To help Malden voters decide on which candidates to support, a group of citizens organized by Prisco Tammaro, a Malden resident, in partnership with local media,  developed a series of “Quality of Life” questions for City Council candidates.

The questions were sent to the candidates in August with instructions on how to respond. The questions ranged from issues of affordable housing to development, grant writing and bike trails. Neighborhood View will run the answers to these questions every Friday for the next two  weeks.

This week’s question is about the Malden River and water quality.

Question 1: Would you support creating a waterfront park/boardwalk system along both sides of the Malden River?

Question 2: What actions by the City would you support to improve the water quality of the storm water that is discharged through the city’s storm sewer system into the Malden River/Fellsmere Pond [Mystic Watershed (West)] and Town Line Brook [Saugus Watershed (East)]?

Note: NR indicates No Response.

Dave D’Arcangelo, Councilor At-Large, Incumbent

1. Yes

2. I would support a balanced plan of improving water quality while considering the fiscal constraints that we face to support the needed infrastructure.

Debbie A. DeMaria, Councilor At-Large, Incumbent

1. Yes

2. I support any steps taken by Malden to ensure cleaner storm water and would collaborate with neighboring cities and the state for its effectiveness.

Craig Spadafora , Councilor At-Large, Incumbent

1. Yes

2. I support a Storm Water Management Committee. Preventive measures should be added to the planning. Establish decision-making processes to applied during the site planning.

    

Stephen P. Winslow, Councilor At-Large, Challenger

1. Yes

2. (1) eliminate illegal discharges into storm water sewers, (2) stop unpermitted work in riverfront protection areas, (3) ensure new development manages its storm water (4) seek grants.

Peg Crowe, Ward 1, Incumbent

1. NR
2. NR

Paul A, Condon, Ward 2, Incumbent

1. NR
2. NR

John P. Matheson, Ward 3, Incumbent

1. Yes

2. Our waterways should be clean and open to the public. I sponsored the waterfront committee 2 years ago to give residents access to their river.

Candace L. Julyan, Ward 3, Challenger 

1. Yes

2. Yes. I strongly support expanding educational efforts to residents, businesses, and developers to reduce the pollution in storm water.

Ryan J. O’Malley, Ward 4, Incumbent

1. Yes

2. We need to sustainably manage storm water
   runoff with rain-gardens, wetlands and other passive water management systems. Ward
   Four will have two rain-gardens at Coytemore Lea Park.

    

Barbara M. Murphy, Ward 5, Incumbent

1. NR
2. NR

David Camell, Ward 6, Non-Incumbent

1. Yes

2. We need a proper engineering report with recommendations. The report should differentiate between legally required measures and best practices.

    

Jerry Leone, Ward 6, Non-incumbent

1. Yes

2. I would collaborate with the head of the dew and water dept. on the most cost efficient and environmentally effective way to discharge the water

Neal Anderson, Ward 7, Incumbent

1. Yes

2. Increased resident education, prominent labeling of storm drains, and aggressive ordinance enforcement would be a good start. I would be interested in additional proposals.

Scott Ciccone, Ward 7, Challenger 

1.  Yes

2. We must always endeavor to protect our natural resources. And to ensure we fulfill this vital task, we should not waste tax dollars on unnecessary projects.

Jadeane M. Sica, Ward 8, Incumbent 

1. Yes

2. I would support the City creating a Storm water Master Plan to evaluate our adherence to Mass DEP
   storm water standards and identify areas where Malden can improve

Richard J. Correale Sr., Ward 8, Challenger

1. NR
2. NR

Note: Candidates Peter Anastasia, Ward 8 Challenger, Joseph S. Gray, Ward 6, Non-incumbent, and Jennifer Lynn McClain, Ward 3, Challenger, did not receive enough votes in the Sept. 19 preliminary election to advance.

Previous Quality-of-Life Questions 

Sept. 15: Candidates’ answers to questions about future development at the former Malden Hospital site

Sept. 22: Candidates’ answers to questions about the Northern Strand Bike Trail.

The deadline to register to vote in the Municipal Election is Oct. 18, 2017. For general information, please see: http://www.cityofmalden.org/vote

To check your registration status, click here https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

To find out where you vote, please see http://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/bal/MyElectionInfo.aspx

Photos for this feature were taken from the City of Malden website and candidates’  social media sites, where available.