Malden City Council Violated Open Meeting Law: AG

MALDEN, MA — The Malden City Council is facing an open meeting law violation after a determination from office of Attorney General Maura Healey last month.

The council, the AG's office said, intentionally violated an element of state open meeting law during a meeting last summer.

The council recently discussed the AG's determination at a meeting on Tuesday, opting not to appeal.

This violation stemmed from a June 29, 2021 meeting where the council approved a base increase to its cost of living adjustments for city retierees, according to the AG.

The council was looking to finalize the increase before June 30 to take effect for the then upcoming fiscal year. The topic, however, was not listed on the City Council’s meeting notice, the AG noted.

Councilors discussed whether to move forward with their vote on June 29, with councilor Ryan O’Malley raising concerns along the way that they were in violation of open meeting law, as noted by the AG.

Councilors opted to take a vote, leaving O’Malley to cast a “no” vote. Councilor Debbie DeMaria did not vote as she had previously recused herself.

Open meeting law requires public bodies to post a public notice listing topics that a chairperson "reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting." Those notices must be posted no later than 48 hours before a scheduled meeting.

Individuals can file open meeting law complaints with a public body that they feel has violated the law. That public body then gets the chance to respond, at which point the complainant can request further review from the AG.

O’Malley, himself, later filed a complaint that eventually went to the AG in this case.

This was the council’s sixth open meeting law violation since the beginning of 2019, according to a record of AG decisions on open meeting law complaints.

The council has seen 10 complaints resolved by the AG during that time span, meaning the AG's office found no violation in four of the complaints it resolved.

Malden city government as a whole has seen 10 open meeting law violations as determined by the AG since 2019.

In comparison to nearby communities, Melrose has had three violations since 2019, while Medford has had one. Everett has had 15.

Filed on July 15, the AG's recent determination recommended a $1,000 civil penalty and attendance by each member of the council at a training on open meeting law. The determination also ordered immediate and future compliance with open meeting law.

As it faces this violation, Malden is also facing a new open meeting law complaint centered around a series of allegations against City Council President Craig Spadafora and the City Council, the Committee on Technology Policy and the Parks and Recreation Committee.

The City Council discussed that complaint on Tuesday, voting to let the City Solicitor seek additional time to investigate the complaint and prepare a response.

The text of both the AG's recent determination and the pending open meeting law complaint can be viewed as attachments to the council's Tuesday agenda.

Patch reached out to Spadafora for comment for this article but did not receive a response on Wednesday.