Malden City Council Says ‘No’ To Elected Solicitor Pitch

MALDEN, MA — The Malden City Solicitor’s job will remain an appointed position accountable to the City Council after an effort to convert the position into an elected role failed to garner City Council support on Tuesday.

Councilor Ryan O’Malley proposed the change via an order attached to this week’s City Council agenda. The order, if passed, would have begun the process of amending the city charter to create a six-year term for the solicitor, who serves as the city’s chief attorney in various legal matters.

O’Malley said the change would benefit Malden by ensuring that a Malden resident serves in the solicitor role. He said the change would also alleviate what he said are current issues in how the City Council handles its oversight of the solicitor.

Fellow councilors expressed concern about the proposal, though, backing the current solicitor structure.

“I think we’re in a good spot here,” City Council President Craig Spadafora said on Tuesday.

Malden is undergoing a transition in its legal department after the departure of longtime City Solicitor Kathryn Fallon.

That has left the city in a position to either advertise to hire a new solicitor or convert the position to an elected role.

An elected option, O’Malley said, would ensure that future solicitors have “skin in the game” as Malden residents when they handle court proceedings, such as settlements, that could impact local taxpayers.

“I do think that it’s important to have local control to some degree over different departments,” he said.

O'Malley also flagged concerns about the City Council’s role in overseeing the solicitor position. While the solicitor is technically accountable to the entire council, O’Malley said that has historically not always been the case.

O’Malley said he wanted to initiate a conversation about this possible change and recommended referring the proposal to a subcommittee discussion.

But colleagues pushed back, with several opposing the move outright.

Among concerns, Spadafora said city solicitor elections would risk politicizing what should be an impartial legal role. He drew comparisons to elected judge positions in parts of the U.S.

“They become politicians more than they become judges,” Spadafora said of those judicial elections.

“It’s hard enough to be answering to 11 of us up here,” City Councilor Chris Simonelli separately said. “It’s much harder to be listening and have to appease thousands of people that you’re running for office for."

O’Malley faced criticism in at least one public comment on Tuesday, with a community member saying she thought he was proposing the change to position himself to run for a newly electable City Solicitor seat.

Speaking while formally introducing his proposal, O’Malley said “there are no ulterior motives to this.”

Then facing little support, O’Malley opted to withdraw his proposal.

With this discussion handled, Spadafora on Tuesday indicated that the city would soon post a job advertisement for a new permanent City Solicitor.

Talks may still continue in the meantime about possible changes in how the City Council handles its work with the solicitor, as some councilors on Tuesday said they were interested in further discussing some of the concerns that O'Malley raised.