Malden Candidate Profile: Sheila Rachels For City Council

MALDEN, MA — With the Malden Municipal Election scheduled for Nov. 7, Patch is profiling the candidates.

Here, we learn more about Sheila Rachels, who is running for City Council representing Ward 2. Rachels, who will be 30 years old on Election Day, currently works in data governance in the private sector.

Candidates were sent questionnaires and filled out the answers.

Name

Sheila Rachels

How old will you be as of Election Day?

30

Campaign website

https://www.sheilaformalden.co...

What city or town do you live in?

Malden

What office are you seeking?

Ward 2 City Council

Education

I attended Malden public schools from Pre-K through high school, and received my diploma from Malden High. I went on to attend UMass Dartmouth and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in History. I then received my Master's degree in Library & Information Science from Simmons University.

Occupation

I currently work in data governance in the private sector, with over 6 years of experience. My job entails promoting the accessibility and transparency of information, as well as compliance with regulatory requirements.

Family

I grew up in Malden, so proximity to family is very important to me. I live close by to all my extended family.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No, I am the first in my family to run for political office.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

No, however, I am a member of the City of Malden's Climate Action Plan Steering Committee as a representative for Friends of the Malden River.

Why are you seeking this office?

I am a lifelong Malden resident and I am running for Ward 2 City Council because I want to help bring neighbors together through community-focused events and improvements and enhance the transparency and accessibility of information coming from City Hall.

I have experience in grassroots organizing through my work in Friends of the Malden River, and I want to apply those skills as a councillor. I want to break down the barriers to civic involvement by working with residents to establish a neighborhood block club and hosting town halls and coffee chats for regular contact with neighbors. I also want to foster greater community engagement by hosting farmers markets and block parties to promote local businesses, building more community garden plots in Ward 2, and enhancing walkability in Malden by planting more shade trees and fixing potholes and sidewalks.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is _____ and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is walkability and pedestrian safety. As I've been going door to door meeting neighbors, people have been citing various issues that impede walkability in Malden, whether it's speeding cars, unsafe crossings, or poor infrastructure (i.e., potholes, uneven sidewalks, and aging traffic lights). As a councillor, I want to ensure we are making our roads and walkways safe and accessible for all by allocating more resources to update our traffic lights, fix our streets and sidewalks, and add more shade trees and safer crossings. Our traffic lights are from the 1970s, which clearly aren't meeting today's traffic needs. With an updated system, we can better address the flow of traffic today as well as adapt to any future changes.

Another key issue is the lack of transparency coming from City Hall. The city does a great job of communicating things after the fact. However, residents often feel left in the dark or ignored when they want to raise any concerns. I want to connect with residents on a regular cadence through coffee chats or town hall-style events, so people can hear what projects are coming down the pipe and provide input early and often into the process. It also allows neighbors a space to voice their needs and concerns on a regular basis by having greater access to their ward councillor. By providing greater transparency, I want to build back that public trust and help residents become more engaged in what's going on in their community, breaking down the barriers to civic involvement.

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

Paul (Condon) has been my councillor for most of my life. Ward 2 was such a wonderful place to grow up. However, I think we can do more to enhance our neighborhood into becoming a stronger, more close-knit community by keeping governance centered on community-oriented solutions.

As councillor, I want to be accessible to constituents by having regular meetings such as coffee chats or town hall-style events to keep an open line of communication with residents. I also want to provide more opportunities for civic engagement in our community by hosting clean-ups, neighborhood beautification projects, and spinning up a Ward 2 block club to help address the immediate needs of neighbors. The block club would be a volunteer organization comprised of Ward 2 residents helping their fellow neighbors. Since city resources only go so far, the block club would help provide mutual aid to one another and could potentially help with needs such as babysitting, snow shoveling, assisting elderly neighbors with groceries, and more.

I also want to bring neighbors together through cultural celebrations and other festivities. By having block parties, farmers markets, and celebrating cultural events, we can meet our neighbors and build stronger bonds with one another.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

I am very passionate about environmental justice issues. I believe it is a fundamental right that everyone experiences a clean, safe, healthy environment and accessible green space. As councillor, I want to prioritize maintaining and expanding our green space in Malden, planting more shade trees to help alleviate the heat island effects, and promoting sustainable policies that will help lead our city to a climate-resilient future.

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

Through my work as a librarian and in data governance, I have a lot of experience with acting as facilitator in addressing clients' needs and influencing outside teams to collaborate on solutions. These skills go hand in hand with what is needed in a ward councillor. As councillor, you need to work with a variety of stakeholders and prioritize their different needs accordingly, while also working with other city departments to try and resolve these issues.

As a data governance analyst, transparency and accessibility of information is the cornerstone of my team's mission. I believe City Hall should operate the same way and I find it shocking that in a city of 66,000 people, our City Hall does not even have a data governance program established.

Through my work, I have always made a strong effort to include all stakeholders who may be impacted by a project, interviewing them for their needs and pain points. I also love to do the research. In my work, I have done a lot of industry research to help back my decision-making, and even when I pulled papers to run for city council this year, I read up on walkable cities, zoning and city planning, and how to create resilient neighborhoods. Decision-making does not happen in a vacuum — as councillor I am committed to taking a data-driven approach as well as consulting more closely with residents on the issues.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Be true to yourself and treat others the way you'd like to be treated.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am very passionate and I'm not afraid to stand up to injustices. I want more people to get involved in the community because in order to achieve better representation in municipal government, more people need to run for office. That is why I am committed to helping break down the barriers to entry because I know how difficult it can be for one person to navigate it all, but it can be done. I ran a do-it-yourself campaign to reduce costs and show that anyone can do it. Just make sure you have a good pair of sneakers!