Malden council enrolls charter-related ordinances, directs home-rule petition drafting for departmental reorganization

The Malden City Council on March 11 voted to enroll a package of ordinance changes that would move several operational provisions out of the city charter and into the municipal code and directed the city solicitor to draft a home-rule petition for the charter deletions required by the reorganization.

The measures are intended to reorganize city functions, including a new Health and Human Services director role, consolidation of inspectional personnel under an inspectional-services director, and a codified veteran service coordinator position. Councilors said the changes are meant to modernize long-standing charter language and give the city more flexibility to update operational rules by ordinance rather than charter amendment.

Councilor Winslow, who led the rules-and-ordinance and charter-review committees through the proposals, told the council the changes grew out of multiple committee meetings and staff input. "We went section by section, had a lot of input," Winslow said, adding the effort aimed to replace antiquated charter provisions with clearer ordinance language. Council President O’Malley and other councilors said they expect additional public engagement—public hearings or a single public forum—before the council signs and forwards the home-rule petition to the state legislature.

The council voted to enroll the measure that would amend the city code and to enroll the related ordinances reorganizing Health and Human Services and inspectional services. The council also voted to enroll an ordinance creating a veteran service coordinator role. In addition, the council directed the city solicitor and the charter-review committee to draft a home-rule petition deleting three charter sections (plumbing inspector, code enforcement inspector, and the current board-of-health language) so the municipal code reorganization can take effect if and when the Legislature approves the petition.

Council members emphasized the difference between enrollment and final ordination: the council enrolled the ordinances now to create a consistent set of code provisions and will ordain them to take effect only if the home-rule petition clears the Legislature. Several councilors said they supported enrolling the measures now so the council could present a single, consistent package to the public and the Legislature and to permit a focused public hearing before final adoption.

Ending: The city clerk will work with the legal department to draft the home-rule petition; the council expects to schedule a public forum or hearing on the enrolled changes before final ordination and forwarding the petition to the state Legislature.