Council debates pay, July 4 and ward funding cuts: ‘A drop in the bucket’

By Lorna Garey

With the city facing a budget “tsunami” and a March 31 vote on a Proposition 2 ½ override, the Malden City Council on Tuesday debated a proposal to cut their own salaries and zero out funding for July 4 celebrations and ward improvements. Councilors also heard a resident question about insurance carried by the city to cover a legal settlement, passed a resolve in regard to working with ICE and welcomed the installation of six new public EV chargers.

‘Knee-jerk reaction’

Councilors Jadeane Sica and Peg Crowe sponsored a resolve to demonstrate “shared sacrifice and budgetary discipline” by reallocating for use in the general fund $180,500 gained by eliminating ward improvement and July 4 funding, eliminating the council president’s stipend, and reducing each councilor’s base pay by $7,500.

“We are asking our residents to trust us with their hard-earned tax dollars during an uncertain economic time,” Sica said. “It is my firm belief that fiscal responsibility must start with us. We cannot lead if we are unwilling to sacrifice.”

The resolution immediately hit procedural hurdles. Councilor Ryan O’Malley recused himself, citing potential state ethics violations if municipal employees participate in matters where they have a financial interest, even if that interest is a reduction in their own salaries. State law also prohibits changing compensation for the current election term. Given those considerations, the paper was split to focus solely on the July 4 and ward improvement funds.

In Malden, councilors earn $25,000 annually and may opt into municipal health insurance.

Crowe clarified that she fully supports the override and has full faith that Mayor Gary Christensen and the city’s finance team can identify $2 million in cuts, even without the resolution being adopted, but reiterated that the council needs to start having hard budgetary conversations, given the magnitude of the structural deficit.

“We felt like the tsunami was coming, and the tsunami hit earlier than we thought,” she said. “This is unprecedented times. This has never happened in the city of Malden, so maybe we start taking some votes, because the city is still looking for where these cuts are going to happen.”

Splitting the paper didn’t derail a discussion on the assumption that all councilors can afford to forego a salary, and whether asking elected officials to serve for free or a reduced amount is in the best interests of the city.

“It was $180,000, now it’s down to $95,000, and that’s not even a drop in the bucket with the approximate $5 million shortfall that we have,” Councilor Chris Simonelli said. “I think we should go down line item to line item, go after every department, every department head, see how much money they’re making, and then suggest that we take a cut on their pay as well, along with fire, police, DPW across the board, including us. I think that’s what we should be doing, because that’s real money. That’s where we’ll be making a difference in the $5 million deficit, instead of having a knee-jerk reaction.”

Simonelli also called out Sica and Crowe for not discussing the resolution with colleagues, saying he found out about it only when it was put on the docket.

Councilor Ari Taylor offered a personal defense of the council pay structure, saying that it can tip the balance to allow more residents to serve the city.

“I didn’t sign up for it for the pay, but I couldn’t do it without the pay — that pay and those health benefits are what are keeping my kids going right now,” Taylor said. “I know that’s not what everybody wants to hear. They want to see us sacrifice, but we do sacrifice. We sacrifice when people come at us online, when they say things to our kids. We sacrifice every single day to keep coming back to this job. Sometimes we’re here till one o’clock in the morning. Sometimes we’re here 12 hours a day.”

Councilor-at-Large Carey McDonald supported Taylor, saying that slashing compensation would limit who can afford to run for office, ultimately reducing diversity in local government.

“There is no way — and you can look at the research on this — that people at different stages of life, different stages of income, education, family, would be able to participate as elected officials in this city if we substantially reduce the compensation,” said McDonald, who pointed out that on March 31, voters will have an opportunity to speak to what level of services they want from the city.

“We’re talking about doing less, offering less … and I think that’s appropriate, but I don’t want us to deny the public the agency in deciding, do you want to gut all public funding for events?” they said. “To me, that would be a conversation if the override failed. I think showing that we can have a plan for some reductions regardless, that makes sense to me. But it doesn’t make sense to me if the public says, actually, we want to invest in the city to then turn around and be, sorry, we already cut funding for all the public events that you dearly love. That doesn’t feel like it’s in the spirit of the democratic process.”

McDonald also pointed out that this may also be an opportunity to reimagine how the city does public events.

Regarding the July 4 cuts, Sica clarified she had no intention of canceling the holiday, stating she would raise the funds through private business donations, just as she does for other ward events. However, Councilors Stephen Winslow and Paul Condon expressed concern about burning out volunteers, further burdening local businesses that may already be struggling, and possibly turning away low-income residents who may not be able to pay for food at a privately funded event.

“Is it really appropriate for city councilors to be out there, you know, squeezing our businesses?” Winslow asked. “It’s always been a mystery to me, and one reason why I work to try to insulate myself from having to ask directly.”

He pointed out that, often, multiple councilors approach city businesses and said he has broached with the the mayor’s office a 25% reduction in discretionary ward funding.

“[Volunteers] do raise money, and they’re willing to raise a little bit more, but zeroing us out is a little bit much,” said Winslow. “At a time when our nation is so divided, I’m glad that we in Malden find ways, as we have for 250 years, to celebrate independence.”

And, he pointed out, ward improvement funding is what purchases supplies, from flowers to crossing signs to poop bags, that enable volunteers to undertake neighborhood beautification projects, maintain the bike trail and the city’s dog park, and make safety improvements.

Ultimately, the council voted to place the entire resolution on file.

Resident questions city’s liability insurance in wake of legal settlement

During the public comment period, Marvin St. resident Bruce Friedman, who also runs the OpenCommonwealth website and Facebook page, addressed the Council to speak on the proposed budget cuts and the city’s pending legal settlement with Tufts Construction Inc.

Friedman began by voicing strong support for the resolution to cut council stipends and event funds, praising Sica and Crowe for taking the “very first step towards acknowledging that every dollar counts.”

He then pivoted to the pending reappointment of City Engineer Yem Lip, raising concerns about the city’s exposure to litigation stemming from the recent Tufts Construction lawsuit, which alleged misconduct by Lip. Friedman said that the city has failed to properly protect taxpayers and misrepresents its insurance coverage.

While the city’s annual financial reports indicate it carries commercial insurance for torts, errors and omissions, and natural disasters, Friedman said, the city has not provided any such policies in response to multiple records requests, and public records show only one policy covering 25 buildings and their contents.

If the city does not in fact carry this coverage, he said, that leaves taxpayers entirely responsible for what he characterized as “a $1.3 million settlement with Peter Tufts. This is a multiyear settlement that’s been agreed to that apparently the city is uninsured for.”

Friedman did not cite his source for the $1.3 million figure. Neighborhood View reached out to the city for any information that can be provided on the proposed settlement beyond the $300,000 that was discussed publicly in the Jan. 27 meeting and received this statement from the Legal Department.

“In the settlement of the Tufts Construction Case, there will be three (3) payments over three (3) years. The City has agreed to the full dollar amount, the first of which is a payment of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000). The other two payments will be made during Fiscal Year 2027 and FY 2028. The City is currently negotiating the non-monetary terms of the settlement. Once they are finalized, they will report the full settlement to the Court and release the full agreement.”

When the executive session minutes and full settlement details are released, we will report further on the full cost of the settlement.

Malden’s 2025 Comprehensive Financial Report confirms that the city carries commercial insurance for natural disasters; that property insurance budget line item is $490,000. In Massachusetts, municipalities may self-insure staff against professional liability, also referred to as “errors and omissions,” claims of financial harm resulting from a wrongful act, error, omission or breach of duty.

In terms of the city engineer, both Winslow and O’Malley expressed support, the lawsuit notwithstanding.

“I believe that the lawsuit had merit in its initial filing, if that’s my understanding, and part of that was based on Engineer Lip’s designation of whether something was ledge or not ledge,” said O’Malley. “I have a lot of faith in Engineer Lip, in his ability. Whether or not it was litigated appropriately, I can’t comment on it, but that’s my understanding of where things kind of went off the rails. And so yes, I want to have conversations, but I do think that Mr. Lip has been doing a great job as our city engineer.”

Council unanimously passes ICE resolution as a resolve

After weeks of debate and community feedback, the council passed a resolve stating that city resources should not be used to assist the federal government with civil immigration enforcement.

Resolved: That it is the sense of the Malden City Council that no resources of the City of Malden should be used to assist with the Federal government’s responsibility for civil (non-criminal) immigration enforcement in any manner not required by law, court order, or subpoena. This includes not assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, or other Federal agencies charged with this responsibility.

The City Council asks that all city staff and representatives comply with this intent to the best of their ability and within the limits of the law. This resolution is not intended to violate any Federal law, nor shall it be interpreted to do so. We support the protections in the US Constitution for due process and condemn aggressive and inhumane tactics of ICE agents in Malden and other communities across the country. As a diverse and immigrant-rich community, we dedicate our resources to creating a safe, livable, and welcoming community for all.

The original paper, introduced by McDonald and Winslow, was initially drafted as a binding order. However, after pushback regarding the operational implications for the Malden Police Department, the sponsors amended it to a resolve — that is, a strong statement of the Council’s position rather than strict policy.

“The reality is, right now, that Malden and every community that has a substantial immigrant population is under direct threat from our federal government,” McDonald said. “My hope from this paper is that every city agency, department and staff person ask themselves a question: ‘Is there any intersection in my work to the federal government’s push on this and that where I’m doing more than I’m required to do by law?’ And if so, let’s not do it. Let’s err on the side of protecting our folks.”

The resolve passed with unanimous support, and the mayor’s office indicated it would issue a statement in agreement.

EV chargers proposed for Broadway Plaza

As required, the council opened a public hearing regarding a National Grid petition to install underground conduits for six new public electric vehicle (EV) chargers at Broadway Plaza. The hearing process allows for residents to comment on the proposal.

Katherine Campion of WS Development, the property owners, said the chargers would be centrally located near the 99 Asian Supermarket. Addressing concerns about the loss of green space, Campion said that while some trees would be removed for the charger installation, the developers plan to install additional landscaped islands throughout the parking lot later this year to compensate.

McDonald praised the addition of the tree islands to help cool the parking lot, but because representatives from National Grid were unavailable to attend due to power restoration efforts from the snowstorm, the Council tabled the petition until a later meeting.

Department head reappointments sent to committee

In administrative business, the Council unanimously confirmed several mayoral reappointments to city boards and commissions, including Police Commissioner Barbara Murphy. However, on a motion by Crowe, the reappointments of two department heads — Lip and IT Director Anthony Rodrigues — were referred to the Personnel Committee for deeper discussions.

Crowe stated that during this tight budget season, having department heads come before the committee to discuss their outlooks and challenges is a prudent step.

Personal privilege

Speed humps: Winslow highlighted an upcoming presentation on air pollution in the Malden and Everett communities that took place on Thursday at the Everett Recreation Center. He also announced a community meeting on March 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Linden School to discuss a proposal for new speed humps in the Maplewood Highlands neighborhood.

Override public forums: McDonald reminded residents to attend a series of public forums to ask questions about the city’s budget situation and the upcoming Proposition 2 ½ override vote. In-person forums are scheduled for March 5 at the Beebe School, March 16 at the Ferryway School, and March 25 at the Linden STEAM Academy, all starting at 6:00 p.m.

This is a re-cap of the 2-24-26 City Council meeting. The full meeting is on YouTube.