GO P O GO PATRIOTS! BEAT THE RAMS! Vol. 20, No. 5 -FREE- www.advocatenews.net Published Every Friday Malden High School student to attend State of the Union Address Guest of U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark By Steve Freker A ngela Tejada-Soliz may be fairly new to the political scene, having voted in her very fi rst election this past November, but she will be front-andcenter for the biggest national event of the year to date. Tejada-Soliz, an 18-year-old Malden High School (MHS) senior, learned Wednesday she was receiving a major individual honor when she was informed that U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark (D-5th Middlesex) was taking her to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, as her guest at the 2019 State of the Union Address by President Donald Trump. The MHS senior is the fi rst $2.49 GALLON Our 80th Year EDUCATION Next Classes DRIVER A 1 Week Day Classes Feb. 18 School Vacation CALL - ENROLL or Register Online 617-387-9121 HENRYSAUTOSCHOOL.COM EVERETT Gift Certificates Available Malden resident in recent memory and the fi rst MHS student in history to be invited to the State of the Union by a local Congressman or Congresswoman. “I was so excited when I got the news,” said Tejada-Soliz, who is a top student-athlete at the local high school. “My family is thrilled for me and everyone at Malden High said they were happy for me.” MHS Principal Chris Mastrangelo said that the Congresswoman had picked the right person. “Angela is one of our top students and athletes, and she has recently become active in civic aff airs as have many of our students,” Mastrangelo said. “We are so proud she will represent our school and city at the State of the Union.” The MHS student was also congratulated by Superintendent of Schools John Oteri when she visited his office Thursday morning with Mastrangelo. Tejada-Soliz did not know the particulars of travel next week but said she was looking forward to the trip. She added that she fi rst met Rep. Clark briefly four years ago as a Malden middle schooler in the eighth grade. The MHS senior said she was seeking an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and needed a recommendation from her Representative in Malden Superintendent of Schools John Oteri, left, and MHS Principal Chris Mastrangelo, right, congratulate MHS senior Angela Tejada-Soliz on her being invited to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night as the guest of U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D-Fifth Middlesex). (Photo Courtesy of the Malden Public Schools) Congress, hence the most recent meeting with Rep. Clark. Tejada-Soliz is a member of the MHS National Honor Society. She served as captain of the girls’ soccer team in its successful 14-4 season this past fall. She is also a member of the newly formed Malden Youth Civics Council and president of the MHS Red Cross Club and Robotics Club. In addition to West Point, Tejada-Soliz has applied to Virginia Tech, Norwich University, UMass-Lowell and WPI, all of which have strong Reserve Offi cer Training Corps (ROTC) programs. “I can’t wait to get to Washington,” Tejada-Soliz said. “It will be a huge honor to represent Malden High and my city.” City Council responds to O’Malley’s Open Meeting Law complaint By Barbara Taormina ssistant City Solicitor Kenneth Rossetti met with the City Council this week to review Ward 4 Councillor Ryan O’Malley’s complaint that fellow councillors have “knowingly, intentionally and chronically” violated the state’s Open Meeting Law. O’Malley’s complaint involves the City Council’s failure to regularly approve the minutes from executive sessions, or closed-door meetings, held to discuss certain topics, such as personnel issues, contract negotiations, security problems and other matters that require confi dentiality. Councillors agreed the city’s legal department will respond to O’Malley’s complaint. Both the complaint and the response will then be sent to the state Attorney General for review. • HELP WANTED • HELP WANTED • HELP WANTED Earn $15/HR paycheck 7D Licensed School Bus Driver AUTO SCHOOL E A “Successful Key To Driving” Since 1938 Malden Trans is looking for reliable 7D Drivers. Applicant preferable lives local (Malden, Everett, Revere). Part time positions available and based on AM & PM school hours...15-20 hours per week with potential for more. Good driver history from registry a MUST! If interested, please call 781-322-9400 Rossetti explained that the City Council’s response would highlight the ordinance councillors are now crafting to address concerns about executive session record keeping. The ordinance will include a procedure for approving executive session minutes in a timely manner and a schedule for reviewing minutes to determine if they can be released to the public. In his complaint, O’Malley focuses on the minutes from an executive session held on Dec. 8, 2015, to discuss an appraisal for the 18acre Malden Hospital site. The City Council met in executive session on Jan. 8 to discuss releasing those minutes to the public. Prior to the Jan. 8 meeting, councillors received copies of the draft minutes from the 2015 meeting from City Clerk Tom Brennan. But those minutes were never approved by the City Council, and O’Malley said he had serious concerns that the draft minutes were substantially diff erent from what had occurred during the meeting. “It is my belief that the council is grossly in violation of the open meeting law because of this specific incident related to the attempt to review and approve three-yearold meeting minutes and the longstanding habit of never regularly approving executive session meeting minutes,” wrote O’Malley in his complaint. But Rossetti pointed out that complaints about violations of Open Meeting Law must be fi led within 30 days of the alleged violation. “Our position is 30 days came and went and there was no complaint,” he said. O’Malley also claims that councillors violated Open Meeting Law a second time, on Jan. 8, when they failed to approve executive session minutes from last December. Open Meeting Law requires executive session minutes to be reviewed and approved in a timely manner, but there is not defi nitive timetable. But what isn’t included in the complaint is the fact that the Jan. 8 meeting ended shortly after it began because O’Malley insisted on COMPLAINT | SEE PAGE 11 617-387-2200 Friday, February 1, 2019 rida ebruary 1, 2019
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