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Vol. 20, No. 50
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Friday, December 14, 2018
Council rejects Vote 16 Malden Overcoming Addiction proposal, calls for more awarded $10K grant from input and information Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation By Barbara Taormina he City Council voted this week against moving forward with the proposal to lower the voting age to 16 in municipal elections, but they left the door ajar for a more detailed version of the initiative sometime down the road. Councillor-at-Large Steve Winslow, Ward 7 Councillor Neal Anderson, Ward 4 Councillor Ryan O’Malley and Coun-
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cil President Debbie DeMaria voted in favor of petitioning the state legislature for approval to change the city charter and lower the voting age. The remaining councillors either opposed the idea or had questions about how student voting would work and how the community feels about the Vote 16 proposal. The idea to lower the voting age began with the members of Malden Rising Leaders (MRL) Summer Fellowship Program who researched the issue and presented it to the community during a public forum late last summer. The initiative gained steam during the fall when members of the Malden Civics Youth Coun-
VOTE | SEE PAGE 18 Pictured in the photo is Henry “Hank� Kezer from the Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation presenting Malden Overcoming Addiction President Paul Hammersley a check for $10,000 towards MOA’s Scholarship Program.
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alden Overcoming Addiction (MOA) is grateful to the Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation for providing a $10,000.00 grant to benefit its Recovery Scholarship Pro-
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gram that helps Malden residents recover from substance use disorder. MOA’s Recovery Scholarship Program offers low- to no-income individuals emerging from detox with the financial means to get into a month-long recovery pro-
gram that provides them a safe environment to continue their sobriety. MOA's Recovery Scholarship Program has become a crucial tool in the continued
MOA | SEE PAGE 18
City launches charter review By Barbara Taormina alden is appointing a new committee to review and update the City Charter. Adopted in 1881 and amended more than 50 times, the charter outlines how Malden’s municipal government works and includes detailed instructions on such matters as elections, appointments of city department heads and the roles and responsibilities of city commissions and commissioners. Thanks to former City Clerk Karen Anderson, former Clerk of Committees Sheila Fermano and Communications Director Ron Cochran, who put in what must have been some long hours of work steeped in excruciating detail, the charter has been organized and consolidated. The charter is now
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available on the city’s website, and it’s not a bad read. However, publishing a readable version of the charter was just the first step. This week, the City Council shared a letter from Mayor Gary Christenson announcing a new City Charter Review Committee. “Not surprisingly, the consolidated charter revealed a number of organizational inconsistencies, outdated provisions and operational inefficiencies,� explained Christenson. “I think we owe it to the city to work toward modernizing and strengthening this important document.� It will now be up to a new five-member committee to revise and update Malden’s City Charter. Two of the members of the committee are mayoral appointments, and Christenson
has named Special Assistant to the Mayor Maria Luise and Ron Hogan, who heads up the city’s parking department, to serve on the committee. The remaining three seats on the committee will go to city councillors. The committee will start working at the beginning of next year with the goal of completing their review and recommendations by the late spring or early summer. That schedule gives the city enough time to ensure that any changes that need voter approval will be on the ballot for the 2019 municipal election. Christenson said the committee will be providing the community with regular updates on its work. They may also reach out and gather public input on different questions and topics.