Malden council votes to remove president Ryan O'Malley after dispute over library lawsuit; Linehan elected president

The Malden City Council voted to remove Councilor Ryan O'Malley from the presidency and chose Councilor Linehan to serve the remainder of the 2025 calendar year, after a contentious discussion about litigation O'Malley had filed against the Malden Public Library and its trustees.

The move followed public comments in support of O'Malley and several written submissions urging transparency; at least three residents addressed the council during public comment, including Sharon Santello who said she had worked with "Ryan O'Malley" and urged that he not be punished for asking questions. Other speakers urged the council not to remove him.

The immediate dispute arose after Council President Ryan O'Malley sought a court order against library trustees about access to records and the council received a letter from the trustees' counsel. Councilors said they were not informed before litigation was filed. According to the city solicitor's office, the city solicitor withdrew from representing the suit because of a conflict after the full council voted to seek dismissal; the council later voted on the matter itself.

Councilor Cica moved to remove O'Malley from the presidency; that motion passed by a 7‑to‑3 vote. The council then voted to suspend its rule to open nominations and elected Councilor Linehan as council president in a 10‑to‑1 roll call. Councilors said they took the action because O'Malley proceeded with litigation that most councilors opposed and that the leadership role requires maintaining colleagues' trust.

Councilor O'Malley said he sought the lawsuit only after the city solicitor's office advised filing and later offered to dismiss the case without prejudice and to seek a non‑litigation resolution. Assistant city solicitor representatives explained the procedural limits on unilateral dismissal once defendants had answered the complaint but confirmed that O'Malley had told opposing counsel he was preparing a motion to dismiss if the parties would confer.

Several councilors called for a working group to clarify the legal relationship between the city and the public library and to pursue non‑litigation options. Councilor O'Malley said he would seek to take that "off‑ramp" and work with trustees if they agreed to dismissal with no admission of wrongdoing. The council later referred a separate order to the Public Property committee to pursue dialogue with the trustees and clarify statutory business under Chapter 146 of the Acts of 1885.