Malden council confirms Laura Vlasic as health and human services director
Loading...
Summary
The Malden City Council confirmed Laura Vlasic as the city’s first health and human services director, approving the mayoral appointment with one dissenting vote. Councilors asked about outreach, language access and the department’s relationship with inspection services and the board of health.
The Malden City Council confirmed Laura Vlasic as the city’s health and human services director on a 11–1 roll call, placing her term to run through May 1, 2028.
Vlasic’s confirmation follows a reorganization that combined public health, senior, youth and veteran services into a single department. The council vote, moved by Councilor Winslow and seconded by Councilor Crow, produced 11 votes in favor and one no vote from Councilor Simonelli.
Vlasic told the council she previously worked as an inspector in Everett and earlier in Malden and that Chris Webb, the prior director, trained her. “I’m really excited about coming back and the new department and how we can make everything work cohesively together,” she said. She told councilors she would continue to report to the board of health and work closely with inspection services staff that will now handle certain regulatory functions.
Why it matters: the new position is intended to coordinate public-health programs with human-services work — combining the youth center, senior center and veterans’ services with outreach and equity work. Councilors pressed Vlasic about pandemic experience, cross-jurisdictional coordination, language access and nuisance control programs during the confirmation discussion.
Councilor Winslow asked about her role during the COVID-19 period; Vlasic said she had been the health director in Newburyport during the pandemic and helped set up drive-through distribution and vaccination clinics. Vlasic also said she meets regularly with neighboring health departments: “We have weekly, sometimes biweekly meetings with our group.”
Councilor McDonald emphasized language access as a high priority for the restructured department, noting that “language access is gonna be a part of that too since 40 some percent of our residents were not born in this country.” Vlasic said improving outreach would be a central focus: “I’ll be focused more on the outreach and making sure that the departments work together to get information.”
Councilor Colon Hayes and others urged coordination on public-health nuisance programs such as rodent control; Vlasic said she had already spoken with Mr. Webb about the existing ratification program and would learn more from staff as she settles into the role. She told the council she will meet staff individually to understand responsibilities and operations under the new structure.
The council clerk read the mayoral paper that listed the appointment and the stated term; the confirmation vote followed the council’s personnel committee recommendation and the public presentation. The appointment takes effect upon confirmation by the council.
The council praised the administration’s speed in implementing the new department structure. Vlasic will assume duties as director and begin outreach with department staff and partner agencies.
