INSIDE INFORMATION: Big shoes to fill as city looks to hire new department heads due to retirements

Cemetery chief Cahill and City Clerk Lucey have overseen lots of improvements and additions through the years

  The city of Malden and Malden City Council will have its work cut out in the next few weeks and months as it considers replacements for two key departments.

    It was announced recently that longtime Malden Cemeteries Superintendent Jim Cahill and Malden City Clerk Greg Lucey have both filed for retirement from their positions.

   Both municipal department heads have done outstanding work in their respective positions, according to everyone from Mayor Gary Christenson to the citizens of Malden who receive the services these departments provide on a daily basis.

    Cahill, who will be retiring after close to 20 years of service, has been credited with a wide scale list of improvements, expansions and enhancements to both the largest cemetery in Malden, Forest Dale Cemetery, and the other, smaller historical cemeteries on Salem Street and Medford Street.

    Cahill has also initiated and overseen major rehabilitation and overhauls at both of those historic sites, which host graves dating back to Malden’s past as far as the 1600s. All of this work was done in addition to the daily maintenance and upkeep of Malden’s expansive Forest Dale Cemetery.

    In particular, permanent memorials to fallen soldiers, Vietnam War veterans and even one of our most beloved former mayors, the late Jim Conway, will all be part of Cahill’s legacy at the helm of the cemetery department.

    City Clerk Lucey, who will have been in the position for three years when his retirement from municipal service concludes on January 1, 2023, has also received many accolades for accomplishments within that department since he took the reins.

    Lucey also has a city service log of over 20 years, having previously worked in the Malden Treasurer’s office as well as formerly serving on both the Malden School Committee and Malden City Council.

    Most notably, under the leadership of Lucey, has been a major transformation in the Malden voting and election process with respect to translation services both with signage and in-person, “live” assistance at the polls. New hires in the Clerk’s Office have also been able to enhance this process.

   Malden’s large Asian American community has benefitted substantially through the efforts of Lucey and his staff and will continue to do so.

   The city’s ward system has also been overhauled under Lucey’s stewardship, due to redistricting, and the number of precincts expanded to a historically high 27. Additionally, new voting machines have come on line this year under his guidance.

   City Council wants to send a message on trash receptacles blocking sidewalks and taking parking spaces

    The Malden City Council wants downtown businesses and apartment buildings to find another way to store its trash until it taken away for pickup.

     Malden Council President Craig Spadafora told his colleagues that this situation has become an ongoing problem with unsightly, large trash receptacles being left overnight either on sidewalks or in the street.

    This has become an issue particularly on Exchange Street, where trash is being left outside the larger apartment buildings located there.
“This has to end. We will be asking that these building managers or business owners, whichever they may be, be informed on the codes governing trash removal in this downtown district,” Councillor Spadafora said. “The sights and smells that are emanating down there are not appropriate or acceptable, in addition to the inconvenience being experienced by pedestrians or those looking for a parking space.

    Spadafora drew agreement from several Councillors including Ward 3 Councillor Amanda Linehan and Ward Councillor Ryan O’Malley.