Kate Lipper-Garabedian Goes From Learner To Leader On Council

MELROSE, MA — She probably wouldn't admit it, but Kate Lipper-Garabedian did not need to knock on thousands of doors to be re-elected to her at-large City Council seat.

Lipper-Garabedian has emerged as one of the Council's more popular members during her first term. The numbers in Tuesday's election support it: She received 5,859 votes, only 215 less than Mayor-elect Paul Brodeur.

But there she was, knocking on 4,000 doors with her own knuckles — 5,000 if you count the knuckles of her volunteers — something she didn't intend on doing when she started but that wasn't quite a mistake, either.

"Predominantly, not taking anything for granted," Lipper-Garabedian told Patch when asked why undergo such an aggressive campaign. "If I'm going to go for something, I'll go full steam."

Having no campaign staff or manager — or really any campaign experience beyond the lead-up to her 2017 election — might actually explain how it snowballed.

"I thought when I started the campaign I'd be a little bit more measured," she said. "When it came down to the finish I went to more than more homes than I did a few years ago."

Lipper-Garabedian already chairs the Appropriations Committee, where much of the city business is discussed among the full Council. Due to the mass exodus of Councilors — the new term will see only three holdovers — she'll enter her next term as the second-most experienced member, so she'll have to switch from learner to teacher fairly quickly.

"I think Melrose has had really great people stepping forward [into the Council,]" she said. "I saw a lot of them coming to our meetings."

Also, the mayor's office will finally have some stability.

"It helps that we've elected a mayor who has a lot of experience, particularly at the municipal level and then the state level, and has been so invested in Melrose at the same time," Lipper-Garabedian said. "I think he'll have a great presence in City Hall and will be a great partner to the City Council."

Lipper-Garabedian brings an aura of composure and thoughtfulness to a Council that can have some hard-charging veterans and some still-learning newcomers. An attorney, she arms herself with research and context on whatever ends up on the agenda.

She also makes an effort to keep the community abreast on what's being discussed. While her social media posts largely just contain what's on the public agendas, not everyone knows how and where to access the information on the city website. And her newsletters overflow with items the Council has discussed and she has worked on, with detail. Not surprising for the daughter of old-school newspaper folk.

"The best place to meet people is where they are," Lipper-Garabedian said.

Lipper-Garabedian pushed her first ordinance through this summer — despite it being opposed by the mayor's office.

The ordinance was for public art go in the windows of vacant commercial properties with a ground-level storefront or face a $400 annual fee, with some exceptions. The spirit was to give the city at least some small recourse after some high-profile vacancies frustrated downtown visitors for the past couple of years, while at the same time elevating the city's local artists.

Lipper-Garabedian also successfully advocated for the Council to have a liaison to the School Committee, something she had run on in her first campaign.

So what's on tap in her upcoming term?

"I think I'll continue to build on my efforts in the first couple of years, process-wise and substantively," Lipper-Garabedian said. "Showing up prepared, trying to hear from residents in the community."

After the campaign run, she's off to a good start.