Page 4 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, March 13, 2026 COUNCIL | FROM PAGE 1 ers” who have stuck around and took part in many a Fourth of July celebration. But to be clear though: NO City Councillor proposed calling off Fourth of July festivities in the city of Malden’s wards this summer. Not even close. What was proposed, through a joint resolution sponsored by Ward 1 Councillor Peg Crowe and Ward 8 Councillor Jadeane Sica, was a package of budget cuts which — if all were accepted — would trim a total of $180,500 from city expenditures. The proposal included: —The elimination of the line items associated with Ward Improvement Funds —The elimination of the line items associated with Fourth of July Funds —The elimination of the Council President annual stipend, an action that will be supported by the Body with a proposed amendment to city ordinances —The reduction of annual base compensation for each member of the City Council by $7,500.00, an action that will be supported by the Body with a proposed amendment to city ordinances The first action the Council took was severing the proposal about Fourth of July from the salary piece for separate discussion. The budget-cutting suggestions were aimed at showing that the Councillors themselves were ready to take “in-house” actions in light of the challenging financial straits Malden city officials have declared to be in effect. “We have to give some sort of signal that we are willing to cut [the budget] and if this [override] does not pass, there will be a lot of cuts,” Ward 1 Councillor Crowe said. “We as a Council have to show that we are in this with the community.” The City Council followed the request of Mayor Gary Christenson made in October and have sanctioned a citywide special election on Tuesday, March 31 where Malden voters will vote on a proposal for Proposition 2 1/2 Override, which seeks to raise either $5.4 million or $8.2 million in a one-time property tax increase. After much discussion, the following sentiments were made abundantly clear: —It does not get much more “Malden” than the Fourth of July celebrations held in the city’s individual wards and quite simply, they are not going anywhere soon, no matter where the funding comes from. —There was little support shown in the discussion on the proposed salary reduction of $7,500, from the present $25,000 annually to $17,500. There was basically no discussion over the proposal to eliminate the $3,000 additional stipend paid to the City Council President, who now is Ward 3 Councillor Amanda Linehan. “I love this job and sometimes Established 1978 Mid-grade Regular 3.24 3.63 4.73 $3.77 Full Service ULS $4.379 Order online at angelosoil.com Kerosene Now Available! stay here till 1:00 in the morning to finish it, but I am willing to do that,” Ward 5 Councillor Ari Taylor said. “I need this [Council salary] money to supplement my income; right now I have five jobs and some of them suffer so I can be here. I sacrifice every day for this job, we all sacrifice. I would do this job for free if I could, but I cannot.” Councillor Taylor’s words actually drew a smattering of applause, including from those in the audience and, seated right to her, Ward 7 Councillor Chris Simonelli, who said, “That’s right, she’s speaking for most of us.” Councillor Simonelli had earlier spoken strongly on the issue, saying, “You can take my whole salary and the health insurance, too; will my fellow Councillors do that? That would really make a difference. Then we should go down the list, line item by line item, asking every department head what kind of reduction they would take in their salary; that would be real money [saved].” “We should put out money where our mouth is,” Councillor Simonelli added. “I don’t sit up for $25,000 a year, and I would do this job for zero dollars. When I ran for office in 2013, it was about giving back to the community I grew up in, the community I love,” said Councillor Sica. “I do not do this for the pay; a lot of us city officials do not do this for the pay.” Councillor-at-Large Carey McDonald added later in the discussion, “You get what you pay for when it comes to compensation. I will say this, you don’t pay me enough for the abuse I take online. Also, there is no way some people would be able to take and do this job if we reduce the salaries.” “It is important to realize our labor for the government has value and deserves compensation,” Councillor McDonald added. On a motion by Councillor Simonelli, the severed resolution on Council salaries was placed on file, meaning no further action would be taken unless the Council votes differently. What was pointed to by several City Councillors is that most of the proposed budgetary actions would be subject to a change to the city ordinances governing them. The proposals to eliminate municipal Fourth of July and Ward Improvement funding were referred to the Finance Committee for review. The matter of changing City Council salaries and the President’s stipend was voted to be placed on file on a unanimous 9-0 vote of the Council with one recused and one Councillor absent from the dais. As several Councillors emphasized, any action taken on any of the proposals would not affect the financial state of affairs for Malden this fiscal year, FY26, which ends on June 30. They would all be for the next fiscal year’s (FY27) budget, which is from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027. Coincidentally, Councillors Crowe and Sica are — like all of their colleagues — highly enthusiastic and extremely diligent down to the painstaking smallest details when it comes to planning, and then supervising, what has become a signature highlight of the years in all of the city’s eight wards in the respective parks. The three Malden Councillors-at-Large trek all across the city visiting all of the wards on the Fourth of July. With the assistance of municipal funds and bolstered by allotments from the various Ward COUNCIL | SEE PAGE 5 Spring is Here! 10 Everett Ave., Everett 617-389-3839 Celebrating 67 Years in Business! •Vinyl Siding •Free Estimates •Carpentry Work •Fully Licensed •Decks •Roof ng • Fully Insured • Replacement Windows www.everettaluminum.com ng Now’s the time to schedule those home improvement projects you’ve been dreaming about all winter! FLEET CARD Check Out Our LOW PRICES!
5 Publizr Home