Malden City Council orders city solicitor to withdraw lawsuit against library trustees after heated session

Council President Ryan O’Malley filed a Superior Court suit in his capacity as council president against the trustees of the Malden Public Library, prompting a week of confrontational discussion at the Malden City Council meeting and a unanimous council vote to have the city solicitor withdraw the litigation.

The council debated whether to discuss the matter in executive session before hearing public and council comment. On a motion by Council President O’Malley to enter executive session, the roll call showed two members voting yes and nine voting no; the motion therefore failed. The council then considered a series of orders directing the city solicitor’s office to withdraw and to refrain from representing the council president in that case. The council voted 10–0 to order the city solicitor to withdraw the suit filed May 22, 2025, and to bar city funds or city resources from being used to support or reimburse legal fees for that litigation.

Why it matters: the dispute involved claims about the library board’s compliance with access to records, disagreements about the role of…