Melrose Candidate Profile: John Orlandella For City Council

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

Here, we learn more about John Orlandella, who is among 10 candidates running for four councilor-at-large seats on the Melrose City Council.

Orlandella is a first-time candidate who manages technical support teams for a living.

Candidates were sent questionnaires and filled out the answers.

Name

John Orlandella

How old will you be as of Election Day?

43

Campaign website

https://www.facebook.com/johno...

What city or town do you live in?

Melrose

What office are you seeking?

City Council At-Large

Please give us your party affiliation

Independent

Education

BS in Computer Science from Northeastern University

Occupation

Technical Support for 20 years. Managing Technical Support Teams for the past 6 years.

Family

Married to my wife Sarah for 18 years
2 sons - Jackson (16) and Cameron (14)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

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

No

Why are you seeking this office?

Being a Melrose resident for the past 17 years, I have seen this great city grow to be nationally recognized as one of the best places to live. At the same time, I have seen a city that is at a crucial point in its growth where, I feel, not every decision has been made for the community at large. This has resulted in a divide between those who loved Melrose's past and those who want Melrose to be a vision of something else.

For Melrose to evolve and thrive, it needs to be a combination of those things. One cannot survive without the other. If we expect to move forward we have to understand our past, both positive and negative. If we expect to be the Melrose we all want, we need to accept that some things are not going to be exactly the way one would want.

One thing that I have always said to people who have worked for me over the past decade, is that if you want to see something change, do not just come to me with why the status quo is wrong. Come to me with ideas. There are no bad ideas. Some of my craziest ideas have resulted in some great improvements to the teams I have worked with in my 20-year career.

This is why I am running for City Council. I see problems, and I don't want to sit on the sidelines and complain about it. I want to help execute change. I have ideas. I know that they are not all great. But I do know they can be the start of something bigger than originally conceived.

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

Being able to grow the city while keeping the entire community in mind. This is going to require listening, collaborating and making (at times) difficult decisions. We can no longer kick the can on the most important issues facing the city. We need to attack them head on, and come up with a game plan to prioritize short-term and long-term goals that would result in success for the entire community.

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

I am willing to listen and have empathy for everyone in the community. I am not going to claim to have every answer and that any opposing view is wrong. We have to get away from the us vs. them mentality that has been an anchor preventing Melrose from becoming the best version of itself.

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

The role of a technical support engineer is one that requires the ability to problem solve on the fly, be able to communicate and collaborate with individuals at all levels, and be understanding when you become the brunt of the customer's frustration. Whether it was an extremely late night troubleshooting to ensure payroll goes out the next morning, or having a difficult conversation with a customer on a Saturday evening, I have listened and been empathetic while at the same time doing what is best for not just that customer in that moment, but with long term interest of the customer in mind.

The past 6-plus years, I have been a manager of technical support teams as large as 20 people. The diversity of these teams has required me to develop a style of leadership that is adaptable in the moment. I learned that the way I would do things is not necessarily the way others would do things. Being able to come up with a game plan for all members of a diverse team is not a simple task. With my current team, I have seen some of the highest engagement scores in a global company coupled with the ability to reduce the team's active workload by 87 percent.

I am not afraid to say the difficult thing. We need to get back to doing what is best for the city as a whole. What will have the biggest positive impact to the community at large? It is my goal to see the city of Melrose be successful, even if some feathers are ruffled in the process.

Listening to the community means listening to everybody in the community. Collaboration is something that needs to happen every day, not just the days when it is convenient. We need to be empathetic and understanding of all of the citizens of Melrose's viewpoints when we prioritize budgetary spending or determine what big project is next on the agenda.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I received great advice several years ago that I have been referring back to regularly during my campaign. I was having a conversation with a respected member of the Melrose community in regard to a community project I had a strong passion for. The person I was speaking to asked: "How big of an impact will this project have on the community as a whole? Can the effort/money that would be allocated for that project be better spent to help greater impact on a larger portion of the community?

What can I do to have maximum impact on the biggest portion of the community? It may ruffle some feathers doing so, but the greater success of the community is worth it in the long run.

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

I was a volunteer for Melrose Little League (and Churchill Little League before that) for 10 years. In the various roles that I held, I was able to see a community grow that went from a good spring program to thriving spring, summer, and fall seasons. I would love to take the experiences I had as a member of the Board of Directors and execute them on a larger scale.

As a manager, I deal with escalations and priority adjustments on a daily basis. I am tasked with making the most out of limited resources. I need to constantly optimize processes and procedures to ensure maximum efficiency. I feel this is going to be greatly needed as we move forward as a city.