Malden City Council 05-12-2026

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Council will come to order. All rise and salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All. Please remain standing for a moment of silence in honor of our veteran service members and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. We honor and acknowledge the Massachusetts, Pennacook, and Pawtucket peoples whose ancestral lands we now call home and on which we gather today. We express gratitude to the indigenous peoples who have cared for this land for generations, predating European colonization, and continuing to the present. Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring that the histories, voices and contributions of indigenous peoples are recognized and respected in the life of our city. Will the Clerk now please call the roll?

Here. Here.

Okay, under the provisions of the Open Meeting Law, for those of you in attendance, please be informed that UMA Urban Media Arts will be recording this evening's meeting, so just be aware. there will be audio and video recordings of tonight's meeting is anyone else present tonight recording in addition to Uma Okay, seeing none, moving on to our first order of business.

Paper 262-26, order that the City Council work in conjunction with the Traffic Commission to create and institute a citywide residential parking program.

Taylor for the paper. Thank you so much. So this is something that I've heard from residents a lot in Ward 5, but also in other areas of the city. And I think it is definitely something that we need to be taking a look at the object is really to streamline the parking throughout the city, enforce the standards to benefit residents, create a net zero parking department, and also ensure that it's easier for residents, it becomes more equitable and more efficient. So I'd like to continue to investigate. I've done some work on this already. Continue to investigate it and see what we can do to prioritize the residents and their needs.

Where are you referring it to?

So I was going to speak to that. Thank you, Councilor Taylor, for the introduction. So Councilor Taylor had brought this to me as an idea and something that we actually had met with the parking department about over the past few weeks, trying to figure out where to send it. So... for members of the public watching, essentially our traffic rules are contained in a set of guidelines that are basically that our traffic commission holds. They're not in our city ordinances and so therefore our council can't really take up changes to our traffic regulations by city ordinance or by adopting changes to our ordinances. When we met with the traffic, well, when we met with the parking department, We came up with the suggestion that maybe it would be a collaborative, nice approach for us to docket something before the council that just

Again, for us to adopt this order to show the sense of the council that we would like to work together, recognizing that a lot of our constituents have brought this idea to us that we'd like to have this more equitable approach to permit parking. and that the sense would be that it's actually gonna be taken up by the traffic commission. We can't strictly send things there, but we would be requesting that they take it up. And again, we would be adopting the order and saying this is the sense of the council and that they know this is coming from us because Councilor Taylor and I have met with them and talked it through. It could be a resolve, but... I think it could be either way, but we wanted the force of an order. That's how we chose to docket it, but I think it could be either way. Yeah. So that's, I do see a lot of lights, so I don't want to keep gabbing because I want to give people a chance to discuss. Yes. Thank you, sorry about that.

So we do need to have a motion to suspend our rules to take this up because it is Committee of the Whole. Okay, so moved by Councilor Crowe, seconded by Councilor McDonald. All in favor? Aye. Okay. We have suspended our rules. You good, Councilor Simonelli? Yeah. Okay. No, that's fine. I'm going to take Councilor O'Malley. Go right ahead. Sorry, go ahead.

Thank you. I just wanted to mention, and maybe the sponsor knows, we did have a parking review committee that was actually chaired by Councilor Condon. I believe I was on that and Ron was also I believe either an ex officio or some member. And so I would definitely review the meeting minutes of that because we spoke ad nauseum about this. for multiple years, I think, actually. And I think one of the things that we came up with is actually we do have a citywide parking program and it's basically if you register your vehicle in the city of Malden, you have the right to park in the city of Malden. And so the parking department goes around based on what complaints and basically can check, okay, this car is licensed or not licensed in the city or registered in the city. And if it's not registered in the city, they can write a ticket to say, hey, you need to register in the city if you live here and if not, you're getting these tickets.

So I do think you highlighted in your introduction that there's a big enforcement component to this. And I think that that would be the route of least resistance because we had a lot of people that came out in opposition. We had a lot of people that came out in support. And it was really a lopsided discussion where some neighborhoods were like, we absolutely need this. And other people were like, this is a money grab. And so we just kind of want to avoid something like that. But obviously, thanks for bringing this conversation up. I know there's a number of counselors on here with a little bit of the institutional knowledge that would love to share kind of how we were approaching it back then. and if it's still relevant. So thanks for bringing this conversation forward.

Thank you, Councilor O'Malley. And just to briefly speak to that, I know Councilor Sica and I, I think we're on the snow ordinance committee. five or six years ago, and then I was not on that committee that you just mentioned, but I did sit in on it, because I know Councilor Condon and I have two wards that abut other communities, as does Councilor Crowe, There was lengthy discussion, as you did say, Councilor O'Malley, about how do you deal with when you've got a ward where only part of it has permit parking and then you've got out-of-state plates that park on street the rest of the time in the non-permit zone. We really want to address that for, again, the equity reasons and just bring up if we need to add enforcement officers. I think what I will say for some of my constituents, what we hear is on the nights and weekends, because we don't have enough enforcement personnel to come out to the non-permit parking areas, it just becomes not a priority.

So if you've got folks who park on street all the time and have a Florida or Connecticut plate, it starts to feel frustrating for residents who live in the neighborhoods that don't have permit parking that, you know just speaking for myself that's what I hear a lot from constituents is they'd like a little bit more attention to the neighborhoods that don't have permit parking where we also don't have capacity to do enforcement because it just isn't a permit area. So that, again, not to speak for Councilor Taylor, but that's a little bit what we're trying to get at. Okay, Councilor McDonald.

Yeah, thank you. I also want to thank the sponsor for bringing this forward. And to be clear, yes, I understand you're talking about a residential permit parking program, right? Yeah, OK. I thought that was clear, just wanted to make sure. So I really don't hate at all the idea that we could have more sources of income as we are grappling with a budget deficit. So I think that is a benefit, but not the reason to do this. and in addition to the ones that y'all have already shared, I wanna say the reason I'm excited about this is because it gives us another tool to manage parking demand in our zoning so that we don't have to rely on parking requirements to indirectly do it at much higher cost and much less precision. Right, so right now we have more parking requirements that we need in part because we are trying to control how much parking is happening on street. But this will allow, if we move forward with this, it'll allow us to have limits on how many cars can be registered at an address,

or when you can be, you know, if we're restricting parking or, I'm sorry, if we're not requiring parking for a certain type of development or residence, then we know that we don't just assume people are going to Register for cars and park on the street. It gives us more tools to interact those things. So I'm really excited about that opening up some space as we're talking about commercial development and residential development soon as part of the need to both engage in the comprehensive plan and do what we can in the near term to build up the tax base. So thank you.

Great. Thank you, Councilor McDonald. Councilor Simonelli.

Thank you, Madam President. Listen, I'm all for this paper. I'd like to join with the sponsor. And I just want to say that I've been on this council for about 16 years now, back and forth. This isn't something new, a topic that we have brought up. I remember Councilor Condon years ago brought this forward, and when I first got back on the council this time around, we brought it up. I actually brought it to... Ron Hogan's attention. And I don't really know what the issue was that we never really got to do it, because it sounds like it's pretty good. I know Everett does it, and they bring in approximately A couple million dollars a year. It actually pays for the program itself and the people enforcing it and puts money in the coffers. And I'll just say for my neighborhood particularly, because we border Everett and Everett has parking by pyramid only.

So what's happening is people are invading my neighborhood and parking their cars, because today, people have got no problem parking a couple of blocks away and walk to their house, or park in Malden or in Ward 7 for that, for example, and then they would like take the T into the station and then go, because it's costing like $50 to park in Boston, the average, right, for the day. And it's $25 for a fine if they even fine you in Ward 7. And I've got like... and many other cars that have been in the same spot on the same street for months. And I think we got like one enforcement officer during the day to take care of these stuff. and he does a fantastic job I mean again another department that does more with less these days so I you know I can't say anything I think it's something that we should really wholeheartedly look into.

I think it can be a revenue grabber. You know, I take my hat off to the sponsor on this paper and to Councilor Condon, who has taken this up on several occasions since I've been on the council and again you know I was just kind of frustrated coming back this year all this time around and You know, they didn't want to do parking by permit only, but I was saying that, you know, my neighborhood particularly should have parking by permit only, even though we're not near a train station. We usually do the train station stuff because people park wherever they want. for the train station or around school sometimes. But when you have a city right next door that has parking by pyramid only, and they're now, you know, infiltrating into my neighborhood and parking their cars there. It's just not a cool thing to do. So we should be fighting fire with fire at this point. So I'm a strong supporter of this paper. So thanks.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Simonelli. Winslow. Hang on, my mouse is being kind of sticky tonight. Okay, Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, no, I know Ward 6 is one of the few wards that actually does not have residential parking. So, and I know in the past Ward 6 residents have said that's not needed. But we do have issues sometimes now with businesses starting to bring cars into our ward. And we end up having to work through compliance rather than parking. and I mean the other thing that you know this is part of what the the study that kind of faced this challenge was that private ways is a big issue we have a lot of private ways and right now we don't we don't do enforcement on private ways even though those residents want us to. And just just another point, just County. We actually, with our charter, our traffic commission's authority over parking, we have eliminated the traffic commission. So we are, I know Maria Louise is working on a implementing our new Transportation Commission.

So ultimately, if we're doing something that is dramatic, I mean, we'll really need to have the Transportation Commission approve that under ordinance because the Traffic Commission doesn't really exist. Right now, the Traffic Commission is carrying on, but something of this substance. I mean, if the Transportation Commission doesn't do that, then that will not be effective. So it's something to be aware of, and it's a necessity to get that. of Transportation Governing. The other thing now is if we're not going to have a parking director, the parking director was going to be on the Transportation Commission. So another wrinkle that will have to be talked about as we go forward. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Winslow. Councilor Sica.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Ari, for bringing this back up because this has been a topic of conversation that's been near and dear to my heart. If I remember correctly, when we first started looking at implementing residential parking citywide, We actually had, I know they've tried to help this process, but we actually had over 200 unaccepted streets and that was a big reason why we never saw this to the very end because an unaccepted street is technically a private way, as Councilor Winslow just said, and we're not allowed to ticket on unaccepted private way streets. I'm fairly positive the engineering department, there was some low-hanging fruit there that, you know, everything was crossed off, like they had sidewalks, they had, you know, National Grid, all the stuff that they needed to become an accepted street was there.

The contractor that did the street at the time just didn't, take it that final step. So I do remember or I heard that they were tackling those ones. Maybe we can, I don't know how many that actually took off the over 200 list, but I think it would be food for thought. and in the meantime, until we can get this implemented, good luck to the traffic department. But a few years ago, we did, with Councilor Condon, we did put some rules in place. it's not, our parking department's doing the best they can like Councilor Linehan said. They're tackling the complaints. So if you have any constituents in your ward, that notice a New Hampshire license plate that has been in front of their house for weeks. Do a little see, click, fix, or call Ernie at the parking department. They are amazing. I had one on my street.

and we kept ticketing, ticketing, ticketing and that Texas plate turned into a Massachusetts plate real quick. So we did our job, you know, like you need to be able I think when we did it, Councilor O'Malley, it was seven days. If they were there longer than seven days, was it five or was it seven days? There's a period of time that they'll come and they'll chalk the tire. or they'll count, you know, if the card moves, then they'll count every night. But if the card doesn't move, they chalk the tire. and they'll come back and they write what they need to. So as long as it's documented for, say, five straight days or seven straight days, they give that person a ticket and then they let them know, blah, blah, blah. So there is... in the meantime, because this is not something that I think that we're gonna be able to tackle overnight.

This could be, I'm gonna say at least a year long process. it's not gonna be as easy as we like to think, unfortunately, but I am all in. I would also like to be added as a sponsor for this paper, thank you. Great, we'll be sure to do that.

And I will just say that One of our intent in putting this on Committee of the Whole tonight is recognizing that the Traffic Commission, I think, only has a couple more meetings this year. One of them is next week, so we didn't want to wait to get it on next week's docket because they meet at 5 before the council meeting. just trying to start the process recognizing that it is gonna be a long haul and fully respecting all the progress that's been made by other councilors up to date. Okay, so I do see Councilor O'Malley for the second time.

Sorry, you're bringing back lots of memories. And so I think it's helpful so that the entire council but also the public is aware of kind of like the work that was already done as much as possible because it's not easy for even us to go through years of meeting minutes to try to get caught up. There were primarily two challenges. There's the daytime parking, which is what the parking permit currently is around the train because we're concerned about people coming into Malden parking and then using the train to go to Boston. So the existing parking programs are only daytime. And then the other challenge, which is more what y'all are referring to, is the nighttime parking. And there is no nighttime parking permit in the city. anyone can park overnight as long as you're registered in the city.

I have overnight parking permit in Woody.

I'm learning that there are some minor overnight parking permit zones to my knowledge or edification now. And so in the dates that Councilor Linehan or the days that Councilor Linehan is talking about, there's two different things going on. There's like once you move to Malden and start garaging your car here, you have like maybe 30 days or something like that to register in the city. that is what the citywide parking regimen is, is if people aren't doing that, that's when they start ticketing and getting people to register. There's a different one of how long you can leave your car unattended, which is I believe seven days. but the beauty of the existing system is only the most egregious and only the real problems rise to the attention of our parking enforcement. I'm kind of like a not a big brother, big government person. as much as y'all would like maybe disagree. I think really only the worst problems should get the force of government on them.

And one of the reasons being is I know what it's like for our residents to maybe be traveling for a long time and not have the ability to leave their car somewhere. And so if they're visiting family out of the country for a month or a couple weeks, I try to be sensitive in terms of does it really make sense for us to tow this person's car when you don't know how much that could really turn into in terms of a bill. They might not know for a couple weeks that their car got towed and then they're owing thousands of dollars. So there's ways in which the existing program is not perfect, but it really kind of helps weed out the ones that are annoying, but not necessarily egregious. And then, That sounds ridiculous. I'm told that you have to move your car every 24 hours. I think that's ridiculous. The other dynamic was reporting visitors and having to disclose parties.

you know it just it got really convoluted and with with the data security concerns that people have nowadays with flock cameras and AI. You know, the more eyes and particularly AIs we have on this type of stuff, the more concerned I am for just our residents generally. So I think it's a really important conversation to have. It's just those were some of the concerns that kind of came up. And I'm looking forward to having the conversation. And I hope that was a distillation of multiple years of us trying to figure this tough cookie. and where we kind of came up with what was if you register your vehicle in the city of Malden, then you have the right to park here because you're paying your excise taxes here. That's kind of where we ended up. So if it's a program that says you register here, you get an excise tax, Bill, when you pay your excise tax, you get a permit. I think that would be a great system. I don't know if it would be revenue generating.

Just respond to some of the things. I will give you a chance.

Sorry. I'm done.

Thank you, Councilor O'Malley. Okay, we will end on Councilor Taylor.

So I just wanted to address, when we instituted the parking permits in certain areas, what it basically did was push forward, right? So the street next to me may have permit parking. My street may not. So now that street is getting encroached on. People are parking and they're walking to the T or they're, you know, It's becoming a bigger issue. So to have something that's more streamlined that we look at all of all of these issues and I've been you know This wasn't something that I just put on in the last few weeks This is something that I've been looking at for about the last year working with our parking department, with Ernie, looking at the previous minutes and seeing what's changed in the city and where we're going now. So I think this feedback is great and it's things that we will definitely work on.

but the issues are different now than they were a few years ago because we have people kind of moving in more and more. We're feeling it in different neighborhoods we didn't feel it in before. So I'm hoping this addresses that. and really brings a sense of equity so that people can park closer to their house and be able to get in and bring in groceries or things like that. We're just seeing so many different issues in different areas. this would bring more equity to the city and then not have something like, oh, I don't know what the parking rules are in ward eight, first ward four, first ward three to streamline it. Also because we, I did hear, I was on a call and there were some people from Melrose saying, oh, we just park in Malden. They can't park overnight. So yeah, I just go to Malden and park. Like these are the things, that are other communities are affecting what we do.

So now it's time, you know, things have changed and it's time to take another look to make it equitable and focus on our residents and what their needs are.

Well said. Okay, seeing no other lights, do I have a motion to adopt the order? So moved by Councilor Simonelli, seconded by Councilor Taylor. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, the order is adopted. Next order of business.

Paper 263-26, be it ordained by the Malden City Council that the Code of the City of Malden, Title XII and Title IX... are hereby amended by the following as is outlined in the body of this paper. It's a rather long ordinance. So if you click through the paper number, you'll see all of the changes that are being proposed by the sponsor, Councilor Luong.

Okay, Councilor Luong for the paper. Great. Thank you so much. And I just want to say that this is not just my paper. It's also Councilor Linehan's paper as well. So we have been working on this for a couple months and it is to do with residential cottage kitchens and allowing that within the city. and it's outlined the different ordinances and the different spots that we would have to make some changes. But in a nutshell, it's allowing our residents to be able to apply for special permits and be able to run and have non-perishable food items baked and cooked in their own kitchens and be able to sell that online and sell it at farmers markets. All our surrounding cities around us do this. and do allow it and we have seen many successes. So I'm proposing that this goes to economic development to outline some more parts of this that need to just be worked out.

That's it.

Great. Thank you, Councilor Luong. And I just really want to thank you. This actually came to us via award three resident and Luong really stepped up and took this and ran with it and did the research at a time when I was very, very busy with my day job and onboarding as council president. It was a tremendous help to me to be able to take that and be able to respond to my constituent, but also was an honor for me to be able to then re-engage and assist. This is something that as I've learned about it, has been something that I've become passionate about. I didn't realize how many residents in the city are really hoping for Malden to come in line with the greater surrounding region as offering this as something that can help folks to make some money with something that they already maybe do as a hobby or as something for their friends and family, but that we could help them leverage that into being a home-based business. I think what I've learned from Councilor Luong is that this is something again that surrounding cities do, but also that we could maybe

work with our planning department staff to leverage into maybe a larger business incubator for things like perishable foods or the broader ecosystem of food-based businesses. So I would love to think of this as even just the starting point. I think there's a lot of potential here. I think sending it to economic development is the right place to get that conversation started, bring in our public health staff, our building commissioner, really whoever has expertise around it to get the right Zoning Ordinance created. So with that, I will go to some of our councillors who have their lights on, starting with Councillor McDonald.

Just want to, yeah, thank you, Councillor Long and Councillor Linehan for bringing this forward. You know, when I first ran for office, I heard a lot about this because so many people had started businesses at home during the pandemic. And we just really didn't have the spoons or the wherewithal to move it then. So I'm really grateful. Wanted to ask to be added as a co-sponsor. and just wanted to note that there's an error on the agenda and I can't click through to the full ordinance. So I just want to ask that that be addressed. That's all.

We can certainly fix that. Okay, I will, sorry. I'll stop touching the light. Councilor O'Malley.

I was also going to mention that you can't actually see what the paper is. Okay. So in concept, what you said, I am in support and would love to see that be vetted. It looks like it impacts a couple different titles. So obviously chapter 12 is zoning. I'm assuming Chapter 9 is like sanitary or health or something like that. So definitely including the health department to make sure people are being cleanly and inspected. I'm sure what you... Thank you. Thank you. and then a new paper would be submitted with the actual changes that would go through the ordinance and ordaining process with the planning board. So it probably would co-sponsor at that point once we have more of a a robust conversation in economic development. So thank you.

Okay, thank you. And we are trying to address the agenda issues. Can't really figure out the challenges that folks are having. It looks like it's linked fine.

I have it in front of me. I'm not sure the issue. So what I did was I opened the agenda, I clicked on the paper number, it opens up Logista.

Oh, it was the attachment that wasn't linking.

The attachment to your meeting invitation? No, but where did you get the where'd you pull up the agenda from?

The attachment has been removed from, if you repopulate your agenda, that attachment has been removed because Councilor Luong said that it wasn't the one she intended. to have, so disregard that attachment. We'll replace it with the new one. But the wording of the paper itself is actually in there. It's in the body of the paper.

Yeah.

So it clicks through.

Into Legistar. The document linked as an attachment does not work.

That's because it's been removed. Got it. So if you refresh. Yep, yep. But the body of the paper, you did see that though, right, Counselor? Okay, great. Still want to be at those numbers.

Okay, great. You've been added, sir. All right, I will go to Councilor Winslow.

Yeah, no, having done some type of work like this in Gloucester of talking about residential kitchens and trying to do commercial kitchens. I'm very supportive of the idea and that type of thing. I just a little bit of the process. I mean, we have the rules and ordinance committee. I haven't been able to link up, so I will see the latest attachment. Yeah, I think it's something we have to think of. I mean, maybe this should perhaps considered to be go to a joint rules and ordinance and economic development. I mean, I do think that if it's purely conceptual and there's not references to ordinances yet, then that maybe makes sense to go to Economic Development. But if something is actually proposing to order an ordinance, I think rules and ordinance should be involved in that. So happy to have a joint meeting and that type of thing.

ultimately it has to, we typically use the Rules and Ordinance Committee to vet something before it gets referred to planning.

and I don't want to speak for the sponsor or the chair of economic development but I know there was a desire for some of the economic development staff at OSPCD to engage on this first while it was still under development so that was a little bit where we were thinking to send it there but I think again, wanting to hear from the Chair of Economic Development and the sponsor whether there is an openness to doing a joint session, but that sounds okay to me if that's something that the sponsor would like, or we could send it to Economic Development and then maybe pass it along.

We have options. Yeah, that's fine. I think before, I'd like the opportunity to have the Rules and Orders Committee to look at it before it would go to planning. if it's most efficient to do that as a joint committee or we think we need more work or whatever. So that's just what the process would be.

Okay, I'll go back to Councilor LeLong if you want to speak to that.

Sure, I'm actually, I think that in discussions that we've had, was the reason to come into economic development first because it is a starter and it's a way for us to be able to look at things a little bit differently and be creative on how we're looking to let people and to encourage people in our city to be their own bosses and open micro businesses and we really need to kind of will there be some ordinance changes? Absolutely. To home occupation, adding the, you know, adding the the definition into our ordinances. And then there's another one in health and it'd be adding the definition in the section into the health code as well. So absolutely 100%. It would arrive to was an ordinances prior to going to planning or any place else. But really, it was just the conversation around it is just being able to encourage our residents in the time that our budgets are where they are.

I saw on Reddit, this woman started a business out of her kitchen in Medford because they allow it. And now she was just on Reddit saying, I'm so excited. My business now is ready for brick and mortar. And that's absolutely what we want. in the city. We want them to be able to do their thing, make their money, and make their businesses successful, and then, by the way, open up here in our city. So that was the reason for economic development. First, flush it out, let's have that conversation, and then let's move it over to those ordinance. Yeah.

No, I just, you know, we often have joint committees and... And I'm fine with that if that would be a conversation. I'll take a look at the paper, but we get concerned because sometimes if you do things... One after the other, one committee might not understand that conversation. So I just, not having the paper before me and seeing how detailed it is. So it's just one of the things to think about. So a lot of things seem to be going there. And if it's actually we're asking for an order and we have language, I mean, I think the Rules and Orders Committee, it may be more efficient ultimately to meet jointly. So that's just, yeah, so.

Let's hear from Councilor Taylor.

I can be creative. I say I'm very creative.

Thank you. I first wanted to ask to be added as a sponsor. I'm very much in support of this, mainly for the reason that Councilor Wong just stated, that if we can get businesses started in the city, seated in the city, and then moving into, you know, we've heard a lot about the empty storefronts, ways that we can fill those with our residents, with keeping it, you know, and growing our community. I think that's so important. So I am just, I am really excited about this and I'd be open to a joint meeting. I think the idea behind setting it to economic development was looking at all of the business related Dealing with it first and then sending it to ordinance with recommendations of this is why we thought that and then how do we feed them in. But I'd be open to a joint meeting as well. I think we can do that.

either way.

It may be faster, too. It may be faster, too, and honestly, let's, you know. We want to get these people up and running quickly.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, Councilor O'Malley.

I was able to review the ordinance. It seems like it's really well thought out. And so I would also support sending it to the joint. I think it would be the most efficient way. And having had a chance to review it, I would also like to be added as a co-sponsor.

Great.

And I appreciate all the work you did. You know, I think focusing on the zoning as well as the public health component, I think really checks all the boxes. Thank you.

Okay, noted. Winslow, you have your light back on?

Yeah, I have it back on. I did finally get access to the paper. I see it is good, detailed, and I think it may be actually more efficient to do it at once. because there is the detail. So it isn't, I think it will actually be more efficient. So we can just have the discussion at one time and then just send it right on to- Is that a motion? Yeah, so that'd be my motion to refer it to both economic development and rules and ordinance.

I'll go to Councilor, so on a motion by Councilor Winslow, seconded by Councilor Luong to refer to a joint economic development and ordinance meeting. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, that is referred. Next order of business.

Of course. I just want to confirm that we have Councilors Luong, Linehan, McDonald, Taylor, and O'Malley. And I see that I'm adding Crowe. Thank you. I didn't want to miss anybody.

And I had on the previous one myself, Simonelli, and Sica. Okay.

Yes, this is a good news moment. No, no, no, it's your good news to celebrate.

and congrats on, that's your first paper, isn't it? Is that your first paper or second paper? Okay, well congrats on your second paper. The audit, how could I forget the audit paper? You jumped right in with that one.

Okay, thank you for that. I appreciate it. So we're ready for the next order of business paper 264-26. Order that the City Council will vote whether to go into executive session with legal counsel regarding the matter of Benevolent Botanicals LLC and 926 Eastern Avenue LLC v. City of Malden. Mass Land Court Docket Number 22MISC000076 for the purposes of Exemption 3 Massachusetts General Law Chapter 30A Section 21A3 to discuss strategy with respect to litigation. and the hearing that was held on April 28th, 2026 with such discussion and open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigation position of the city if so declared by the chair and if also allowed by the body to omit Maria Louise, Special Assistant to the Mayor, Ron Hogan, Chair of Cannabis Licensing and Enforcement Commission, and Nelson Miller, Building Commissioner and Zoning Officer.

Okay, thank you to the Clerk. Any questions, discussion? That was you? Oh, okay. Do I have a motion to enter executive session? So moved by Councilor LeWong, seconded by Councilor Crowe. Okay, citing exemption three of Mass General Law, Chapter 30A, Section 21A, wherein discussing paper 264-26 in open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the city's litigating position. On Councilor Luong's motion to enter into executive session, seconded by Councilor Crowe, the Clerk will now call the roll. Did I get that right?

Councilor Condon. Yes. Councilor Crowe. Lewong, McDonald, O'Malley, Sica, Simonelli, Taylor, Winslow, Council President Linehan. Yes. Okay, that order has been adopted.

The order is adopted. Okay, the council will enter into executive session. The body will not reconvene for any further business this evening and will adjourn directly from executive session.

at 7.58 p.m.