Ward City Council candidates: Safe streets, redevelopment are Malden’s most pressing issues

Asian Community Development Corporation held Candidates Forum on Oct. 20

By Steve Freker

Malden residents must be able to traverse their community safely — in whatever mode they choose — as motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians. That was the consensus of every one of the six Ward City Councillors who took part in a Candidates Forum hosted by the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) in Malden City Hall’s City Council Chamber on October 20.

“The safety of our community is really at the crux of everything we do,” Ward 5 Councillor Ari Taylor, a first-term incumbent, asserted in response to a question from the moderator, echoing a sentiment expressed by all of the candidates.

Councillor Taylor, who is running for reelection unopposed, was joined by five other Ward Councillor candidates, including incumbents Peg Crowe (Ward 1), City Council President Amanda Linehan (Ward 3), Ryan O’Malley (Ward 4) and Stephen Winslow (Ward 6). Also participating in the forum was Ward 1 Councillor candidate Brynn Garrity, who is challenging the incumbent. Councillor Winslow also has an opponent in this year’s November 4 Final Election, Jerry Leone, but was the lone Ward 6 candidate on the City Council Chamber dais on Monday night.

The event was moderated by Leverett Wing, President and CEO of Commonwealth Seminar, a Boston-based “training program focused on teaching diverse leaders how the legislative process really works,” according to information on its website, www.commonwealthseminar.org.

ACDC, based in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, “invests in Asian American and low-income communities by creating and preserving affordable and vibrant neighborhoods in Chinatown and Greater Boston,” according to information on its website, www.asiancdc.org. ACDC is currently involved in two major affordable housing developments in Malden: a 16-unit project at 213 Main St. and a larger, 335–40-unit redevelopment at the former Congregation Agudas Achim property at 245 Bryant St.

In addition to the Ward Councillor Forum, ACDC also hosted a Councillor At Large Candidates Forum Monday evening, which immediately followed the first and featured five participants: all three incumbents and two challengers. (See separate story.)

After going through a general question list, which he described as a “lightning round,” which featured “Flash” cards with printed “Yes” of “No” answers, the moderator moved on to Malden-specific questions. The first key question posed by the moderator was “What do you see as the top pressing issues in your ward, and what will you do to address them?”

Ward 6 Councillor Winslow cited “Safety and transportation access and improvements in Maplewood Square,” as his two main issues. “We want the streets to be safe for residents to be able to walk down them with their kids,” Councillor Winslow said. “We are looking at more traffic calming methods and considering implementing projects like those on Bainbridge Street [seven speed humps].”

Winslow also said “We need better bus stops,” which could include roof shelters. “We are still talking with the MBTA.”

The Ward 6 Councillor also said he and his constituents were also looking to exploring some initiatives suggested in a recent Boston University-fabricated vision study, regarding present and future improvement suggestions for Maplewood Square. “We want to look at more art [projects] and murals,” the Ward 6 Councillor said. “It is important we keep working on improvements and bringing events to Maplewood Square like Maplewood Fest.”

Ward 5 Councillor Taylor got right to it in her response: “There’s one main point: Safety issues.”

“In some streets [in Ward 5] there’s cars going off the road and into homes. In one instance, a family lost a beloved pet,” Councillor Tayor recalled.

The Ward 5 Councillor said she was pleased with progress that has been made in her neighborhood. “We have made some really strong improvements in this area,” Councillor Taylor said, citing new traffic lines and signs on Webster Street and speed bumps (seven of them) on Bainbridge Street.

“There’s better signage on Pierce Street, so people know where they’re going. I’ve heard from a lot of seniors who are scared of crossing.”

Also, the Councillor said she had encountered in the confines of Ward 5 “a lot of trash, a lot of abandoned property; we have to address all that.”

She said she believes there are “some neighborhoods that haven’t had civic engagement in quite some time.”

Councillor Taylor also noted there are “immigrant businesses along Salem Street and we want to include them and support the owners. We want them to feel welcome, and they can flourish and call Malden home and their businesses can do well.”

Ward 4 Councillor Ryan O’Malley, who is seeking a sixth term and is running unopposed, said, “The challenges our community faces don’t respect ward lines. We have a lot of the same issues in all of our wards.”

Councillor O’Malley said “livability” is the key issue in Malden, and it could be enhanced if economic development includes goals of “how can we bring businesses to Malden that makes it possible you can work near where you live. “We have to continue to work to provide affordable housing in Malden so you can live where you work,” Councillor O’Malley added, noting that, with his Council colleagues, they voted to adopt the new, state-sanctioned Accessory Dwelling Unit law allowing any property to add a unit.

“It’s a process they can’t say ‘no’ to, and they will help you get to a ‘yes,’“ Councillor O’Malley said.

Councillor O’Malley said, “Reducing barriers to housing, such as reducing parking requirements and adding density bonuses, can help Malden really flourish. There are a lot of people who are getting priced out.”

“How do you get to your work? Multimodal transportation is something I care a lot about, and I really enjoy working with colleagues on this issue,” the Ward 4 Councillor said, praising the Bike to the Sea/Northern Strand Trail in Malden and surrounding communities — spearheaded by Councillor Winslow.

“I have also been fighting to bring a new shared-use path to the city, Spot Pond Brook Greenway. It has broad community support, and what is also helpful is feedback from those not so excited about the project,” O’Malley said.

Council President Linehan (Ward 3) noted that the “overarching issues from [all] candidates are safety getting around [the city] and affordability.”

In her ward, Councillor Linehan said, “there are pivotal development issues,” citing the ongoing former Malden Hospital site project and the stalled Malden District Courthouse plans. At the former hospital site, a new regional behavioral health facility has been built “and should have a ribbon-cutting in one to two months.” The Ward 3 Councillor said she is pleased that with the support of Mayor Gary Christenson the MBTA has agreed to retain bus routes to that new behavioral health center and the surrounding neighborhood, as cutting them had been proposed. “They will also be employing a lot of Malden residents,” she asserted.

Councillor Linehan also said that on the very day of the forum it was announced Malden has received a new state-funded PARC grant in the amount of $400,000 to improve and support open and green space at the site, on land the city has acquired there. PARC grants can be used by municipalities to acquire parkland, to build a new park or to renovate an existing park.

As for the courthouse site, Councillor Linehan called its status “stalled and frustrating,” then echoed Councillor O’Malley’s remarks on ward boundaries and said that future project has implications for all Malden residents. “A dynamic arts and culture center may not be an economic reality,” she said, “but with the help of our state legislature, perhaps we could generate mixed-use [redevelopment] at that site and potentially spur the overall economic development of that corridor of the city.

Ward 1 Councillor challenger Brynn Garrity said “enforcement of egregious traffic violations” in her ward as well as safety in all forms of travel are key issues. “There are no consequences for traffic violations,” Garrity said, noting that she is a personal friend of the resident who lost the dog, Toby, in the Ward 5 traffic accident, noting the dog’s owner was also seriously injured.

“Parking violations, speeding, you name it. It’s a revenue stream we are leaving on the table.”

Council candidate Garrity said she has been a member of the Malden Safe Streets group since its inception and has been working closely with other residents for nearly two years on such projects as the already established Safe Routes to Schools. She also said she and others would continue to seek volunteers for “bike buses” and “walking buses” for kids going to school in the morning.

Garrity said she would also seek zoning changes if elected, to enhance and create both potential economic development and redevelopment on Main Street and Commercial Street in Ward 1. “Commercial Street is kind of a disaster. It’s ugly in a lot of parts. Main Street, as you come from Everett into Malden, is a big difference. We are leaving a lot [of what those areas could be] on the table.”

Incumbent Ward 1 Councillor Peg Crowe said the biggest issues around her ward “are also the next best opportunities.” She referred specifically to the major redevelopment project at the Malden DPW site alongside the Malden River, called “Malden Riverworks,” as well as potential new projects along Commercial Street. “The Malden Riverworks is the next best opportunity,” Councillor Crowe said, “and Commercial Street is the next and biggest untapped resource [for redevelopment] in our community.”

Councillor Crowe noted that Ward 1, of all the eight wards in the city, is most evenly divided between commercial and residential use. “I really feel Malden Riverworks will be the key to developing [more projects] along the Malden River.”

“Ward 1 redevelopment is our next best hope,” Councillor Crowe said.

As for safe streets, Crowe noted she was lobbied at the State House to help make “Drive 25” a public option in Malden, where a citywide speed limit of 25 miles per hour was implemented. She also said she was also an early backer of both the Safe Routes to Schools program and the Malden Safe Streets initiative. “I have always championed public safety. When we are on the road, we can all slow down,” Councillor Crowe said. “When you think outside the box, and it works, then you just put your ideas into practice.”