Candidate Profile: Bruce Friedman, Ward 8 School Committee

MALDEN, MA — Bruce Friedman is running for school committee in Ward 8 in the Nov. 2 municipal election. He faces a challenger in Sharyn Rose-Zeiberg. There will also be a citywide election for councillor at-large, as well as elections for city council and school committee in certain wards.

Malden Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles this week.

Friedman, a network and infrastructure architect, serves as the vice president of the Malden Special Education Parent Advisory Council.

Are you running for office in Malden? Contact Alex Newman at alex.newman@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Malden Patch.

Age (as of Election Day)

56

Position Sought

School Committee - Ward 8

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Nine children, happily married and content.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

College

Occupation

Network and Infrastructure Architect

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Malden SEPAC VP

Campaign website

HTTPS://bruceformalden.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

To assist in transforming MPS into a school system representative of the staff in the schools and the people of Malden

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Transparency and Accountability. Help educate the committee on the laws of the Commonwealth and the United States as it relates to Public Records, Open Meetings, FERPA, IDEA and DESE/DOE. Help the committee fulfill its legal and ethical obligations to the taxpayers, parents and students. Assisting the district in fulfilling its duties as they relate to information technology, data security, availability and proper data retention and classification.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Transparency and expertise.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

The seat was vacated this year by a long serving member, educator and resident.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

The School Committee did a fair job at addressing unprecedented problems and trying to support the community. The committee failed in accounting for funds expended, and not requiring key contracts to be placed for bid. The committee also endorsed suing a parent for seeking public records regarding education, safety at school and safety on the school buses.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Clarity of vision, persistence and commitment.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Raising 7 children in public schools through to successful graduation, seeing the 8th through 11th grade this year and the blessing of the 9th as a special education student in elementary school; both of them in MPS.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Do what you love.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I have been successful in enterprise and carrier level information technologies for over 27 years. We have a large blended family. Our family specifically selected Malden as our home and as a forever residence for our special needs child. We did so with our eyes wide open and despite the occasional short-comings of Malden and it’s leadership, we have found an amazing place to settle and have been here for four and a half years