THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, September 24, 2021 ~ Op-Ed ~ Page 11 A Ward and City Council Focused on Connectivity By Nate Bae Kupel T his past week, Ward 8 residents voted in the City Council Preliminary election and I’m so grateful, proud, and energized by the support for a city council that focuses on connection. Malden needs city councillors who connect with residents, who listen to and understand their needs and who connect residents to each other, building bridges to solve our shared challenges. I’ve had the privilege of speaking with many residents over the summer by phone, at doorsteps, and on our streets to hear directly from you about the most pressing issues on your minds. My social work training is kicking in and I’m already thinking about what resources we can develop and how we can come together to tackle these problems in a way that works for everyone. Of course, a major priority that residents are talking about is the ongoing pandemic. We are still in the midst of addressing the immediate impact of COVID on our communities and have yet to fully realize the long term impact that this past year and a half may have had on our abilities to live and thrive. Beyond the economic impacts and direct risk of contracting the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have told us that loneliness and social isolation pose additional threats to our wellness and can contribute to serious health conditions. What can we do at the city level? For starters, we can increase partnerships with healthcare providers and mental health nonprofits to offer regularly occurring mobile health/mental health screenings across our neighborhoods and to connect residents and families with needed services. We can build grant programs aimed at supporting nonprofit and social service agencies to increase their ability to serve residents whose livelihoods have been impacted by COVID with culturally inclusive services. Malden healthcare providers regularly perform Community Health Needs Assessments. We can work with them to encourage the next assessment to be accelerated to identify and address health needs, risks and protective factors to better serve our residents. We can work with our workforce development board and career center to increase jobs and job training for our residents and find ways for our city to increase visibility of small businesses including those that are operated out of homes. I’ve heard from residents that increased communication from the City about issues that affect you is important. Whether you submit a request to fix potholes, repave our streets/sidewalks, you don’t want a “wait and see” approach, you want to know what the city plans to do about it and by when. We need to build out a communication platform between residents and the city to give detailed information about the status of requests from city councillors and seeclickfix, as well as how and why they will be prioritized. The city can also develop a community ambassador engagement team across our wards to support the spread of crucial city information, hire local residents, and ensure residents know where to turn to for help and access to resourcDPW looking for snowplow drivers B efore you know it, it will be that time of year again. The Malden Department of Public Works (DPW) is looking to hire contractors to plow and/or sand this winter. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and must be fully equipped. Acceptable vehicles are pickup trucks with an eight-foot plow, larger trucks with 26,000 gross vehicle weight (GVW) or greater, sanders, loaders and backhoes. The City of Malden requires certification of comprehensive general liability insurance coverage in the minimum amount of $500,000. Applicants must submit name, address, a valid phone number, email address and other pertinent information to DPW Director Robert Knox at rknox@cityofmalden.org by no later than October 25. For more information, please call 781-397-7162. es. The 2020 Census tells us that our city’s rate of Limited English Proficiency is three times higher than the state average. While translation and interpretation services have increased here in Malden, I believe we need a translation and interpretation line item to meet growing resident needs, and robust community outreach to ensure that all communities understand how to participate and have access to the services they need. We know that the conditions and accessibility of our streets and sidewalks impact the quality of our lives. Main thoroughfares are often prioritized but our side streets and smaller neighborhoods need attention and focus. I’ve seen and spoken with many of you about concerns regarding excessive speeding, missing or crumbling sidewalks, increased traffic across the ward due to spillover traffic from Route 99 and GPS navigation apps. I share these concerns – in fact, I testified at a hearing this month, urging the city to follow the recommendations set forth by our recent Route 99/Broadway Corridor Framework Plan to ensure that developments do not have detrimental impacts on our neighborhoods. Corridor Framework Plan looked at how to increase traffic efficiency, pedestrian and cyclist safety, and thoughtfulness about what types of development along the corridor would work best and create a livable community for all of us. Beyond implementing the study that was completed, I’d like to look at traffic and pedestrian access on our side streets to determine vehicle volume, speeding, and safety issues, and develop appropriate traffic control and speeding mitigation strategies. I’ve heard that there is a great need for more green spaces like community gardens, pocket parks and trees across Ward 8 to make our neighborhoods more enjoyable, increase physical and mental health, and reduce the heat island effects. There are opportunities to tie community ecology, urban agriculture into our school curriculums, and ways to build local jobs in the process. City government can respond by investing in new parks and increasing community garden space along the bike path. We can pursue grant funding to offer youth-centered jobs to build and care for these green spaces. And we can assess the feasibility of a city wide compost program and build out appropriate rodent/animal control strategies to support its adoption. Thank you Ward 8 residents for your support and to fellow candidates Amy Friedman and Councillor Jadeane Sica. I hope these ideas stir your imagination for what is possible and encourage you to share more with me about what you would like to take root here in our ward and across the city. As a consumer and lover of science fiction, what I appreciate about good science fiction novels is the opportunity to envision a positive future that has never existed before. Ward 8 neighbors, I hope you’ll join me in helping to build this vision with your support on November 2. Nate Bae Kupel, MSW, is a candidate for the Ward 8 City Council seat. You can get in touch with him at nateformalden@ gmail.com.
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