Tara Murphy Beardsley
Office running for: Malden Ward 5 School Committee
Education: BA in Biology from Bowdoin College and Masters in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University
Occupation: Teacher
What are your accomplishments?
I am proud of the fact that I have been very responsive to both constituents and the school community in Malden. I have been transparent, proactive and able to listen to people on all sides of issues. I worked extremely hard on trying to rehire the K-8 librarians in Malden and worked with a super team of volunteers at two of the schools to get their libraries open with volunteers on a limited basis so students could access the library and take out books. I believe Malden is hiring a part-time librarian this school year, so we are moving in the right direction.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing your local schools?
Funding. The biggest issue facing Malden is the budget and the fact that we haven’t been able to rehire many positions that were cut during previous years. I feel that this issue is one that needs to be addressed by fixing the state funding formula and the special education reimbursement from state.
How would you propose the city pay for your remedy to address that issue?
I believe that advocating for Malden to the state and federal government is the first step. I also think we need to think creatively about how to save and raise money.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know? Depending on where you live in Malden, you may not have the same access to programs/courses that students in other places have and that is unfortunate and needs to change.
David Camell
Office running for: Malden City Council, Ward 6
Education: B. Sci., Rochester Institute of Tech.; MBA/MSF Boston College
Occupation: Principal Engineer, FirstFuel Software
What are your accomplishments?
I am proud of many things that I’ve done in my career. During the first part of my career, I designed ventilation systems for laboratories and hospitals. I enjoyed being part of the team that helped create environments where scientific and medical research took place. Then in 2013, after completing my graduate education, I moved to a software company, FirstFuel. I have been directly responsible for many components in our analytics that we use to understand and optimize energy use in commercial and institutional buildings.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing your city (or local schools)?
A transparent and open government is my number one goal. All the issues we face should be tackled as a community. For example, Malden is at a crossroads in terms of population density, growth, and overall community character. I believe we should make sure we prioritize and encourage commercial development / new business, not just go the easy route of allowing unrestricted residential development.
How would you propose the city pay for your remedy to address that issue?
We actually have a lot of leverage when it comes to negotiating with those who’d like to build in our community. We can drive a pretty hard bargain, and we should use that to our advantage. We certainly don’t need to give away revenue with excessive tax breaks. We ought to keep clear that our goals are to increase revenue, improve services for our residents, and create new jobs within Malden for Malden residents.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know?
I am a good cook, and I also know how to brew beer from scratch!
Candace Julyan
Office running for: Malden City Council Ward 3
Education: EdD, science education
Occupation: Conflict resolution consultant
What are your accomplishments?
Worked as a scientific educator, researcher, and manager of multi-million dollar federal grants, Longtime leader with Malden’s arts and cultural organizations. Worked with Malden Public Schools to build community among teachers, staff and students and to develop alternative approaches to suspensions.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing your city (or local schools)?
Although there are a number, I feel that a core issue is making sure all residents’ voices are consistently heard and valued so people feel invested in the City.
How would you propose the city pay for your remedy to address that issue?
I believe that solving this issue will be relatively low cost for Malden. If elected, I will vote to add public comment time to City Council meetings. There is no cost to this change. I also will hold regular small neighborhood meetings in Ward 3 in order to hear residents’ concerns and ideas. The modest costs that might be associated with holding these meetings could be covered with existing Ward funds. Voters can learn more about my campaign at www.candacejulyan.org, and I hope I can earn their vote on November 7.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know?
Voters may not know that I was once an avid wind surfer and conducted research on humpback whales from a square-rigged ship off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
Emmanuel Marsh
Office running for: Re-election to Malden Ward 2 School Committee
Education: 2nd year in law school
Occupation: charitable game inspector for the Massachusetts State Lottery
What are your accomplishments?
An accomplishment that I am proud to mention, is successfully working with the superintendent on creating a social emotional learning curriculum. This is important to the school system because it is a great way for educators and students to learn from each other. There are some students who do not have a support system at home and school plays an important role in those students lives.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing your city (or local schools)?
The biggest issue we face is the budget. When making these extremely tough decisions, we must make sure that we are being responsible by protecting our students and educators in the classroom.
How would you propose the city pay for your remedy to address that issue?
One goal that I am hoping to bring into the district is a full-time grant writer. Our educators are there to educate our students and should not have double duty by finding grants. We need grants to fund our literacy programs by hiring librarians and improving our music and arts.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know?
At law school I’m building my skills to be a better advocate on Special Education law.
Nichole Mossalam
Office running for: Malden’s Ward 7 School Committee Seat
Education: I studied at the University of Utah pursuing honors degrees in Middle East Studies and Political Science with minors in International Relations and Cultural Anthropology.
Occupation: Current Position: Administrative Director at Malden Islamic Center
What are your biggest accomplishment?
I have helped in many community-driven initiatives. I was a founding board member of the nonprofit United in Service to humanity. I have participated in the Cambridge police department’s Police Chaplaincy program where I received certification from the International Conference of Police Chaplains. I was a founding task force member for Malden’s Community ‘N Unity initiative. More recently, I have organized events such as the Open Mosque day,the Fastathon that raised $6k to pay towards Malden public school student’s lunch debt and the Malden Unites Against Hate rally.
What is the most important issue facing your city (public schools)?
Due to starvation of funds, the Malden Public School system has been forced to cut transportation from the budget and go back to a neighborhood system. This is a major issue due to families being unable to switch their students to the closest school due to overcrowding and unequitable programming at each school leading to hardships on families.
How would you propose the city pay for a remedy to address that issue?
We need to come up with a short-term plan of forming strategic community partnership to provide equal opportunities for all our students and look into creative transportation arrangement such a bus ride cost sharing and more. We must also look into ways of addressing overcrowding in our schools.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know?
I absolutely love to sing. I am trained in opera style, and used to sing professionally. I had the privilege of singing for Pope John Paul II and Sunday Mass in the Vatican.
Mekka Smith
Office running for: Malden Ward 3 School Committee
Education: B.A. Spanish & Psychology, Amherst College; M.Ed. Education Policy and Management, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Occupation: Education Administrator/former educator
What are your accomplishments?
I bring passion for educational equity and a background in education. I completed five years of teaching elementary school, and coached K-12 teachers in public school districts in Boston, Lawrence, Chelsea, and New Bedford. Currently, I manage strategic projects and regularly lead professional development sessions for school leaders and staff.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing your city (or local schools)?
One issue facing Malden Public Schools is passing a yearly balanced budget that is responsive to school and community demands. There is a demand for hiring support staff for students with specific academic needs, developing a gifted and talented program across the district, and supporting language development programs. Unfortunately, these are the types of requests that are unable to be added to the budget once true costs and line items are analyzed.
How would you propose the city pay for your remedy to address that issue?
We should apply for grants, starting with the U.S. Department of Education, to cover costs of desired programming. While short-term, many grants span multiple years and millions of dollars. Once a grant writer is secured, the addition of these funds would not detract from balancing the yearly budget.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know?
In addition to education, I’m also passionate about high thrill, adventurous activities— it’s the stuff that makes life worth living. I’ve been trapeze flying, skydiving (twice), and I’ve flown a plane. Next on my list is swimming with sharks by 2020.
Jennifer M. Spadafora
Office running for: Malden Ward 3 School Committee
Education: Malden Public School graduate
Occupation: Brown Brothers Harriman/Controller’s Department
What are your accomplishments?
The accomplishment I am most proud of is raising three children. Among that, being a special needs advocate and a member of the Beebe School Council for the past 2016 – 2017 school year.
What do you feel is the biggest issue facing your city (or local schools)?
I believe we need to tackle equality in our schools. We have such a diverse city with so many cultures, we need to ensure all of the students are understood and represented.
How would you propose the city pay for your remedy to address that issue?
This is something that we don’t necessarily require funds for. Ensuring our students of many backgrounds have the tools they need to succeed, comes from proper support. Social support clubs in all our schools, at all grade levels, is a great way to keep our students connected.
What is something about you that voters may not know and would be surprised to know?
I’ve always enjoyed running and have ran numerous 5K road races. I was offered a bib in the 2012 BAA 1/2 Marathon and having never ran anything more than five miles, I ran and finished at a time of 2:21:48.
Steve Winslow
Office running for: Malden City Councillor at Large
Education: Chemical Engineering and Law Degrees from the University of California
Occupation: Senior Project Manager
What are your accomplishments?
My wife and I co-founded Bike to the Sea, Inc. and led the 25-year effort to build the Northern Strand Community Trail. I personally negotiated Malden’s lease with the MBTA that allowed for trail construction. I proudly served 3 terms on the Malden School Committee and worked to update Malden High’s auto shop and pre-engineering programs.
What are the big issues affecting your city (public schools)?
Malden boldly broke from its past this year when City Hall was torn down. Residents ask me what’s next for Downtown? How fast can we remove lead pipes? Can we fix our streets and make them safer?
As councillor at Large I will focus on those issues you’ve raised as I have campaigned. I will work with residents to create a new vision for all of Malden that ensures new development fits the character of our neighborhoods. We’ll accelerate our efforts to remove lead pipes. We’ll fix our streets at the same time we make them safer and more convenient whether you hop on a bus or train, walk to a neighborhood business, drive or bike to school or your job.
How would you pay for a remedy to address this issue?
We need to listen to residents first, and then find smart ways to fund our priorities. Whether that means seeking government or foundation funds to support our schools and speed lead pipe removal or using smart growth to pay for the improvements we need.
What is something the voters don’t know about you but would be surprised to learn?
I am the ninth of twelve children so family is very important to me.
The following candidates did not return questionnaires
- Peg Crowe, City Council Ward 1
- Paul Condon, City Council Ward 2
- John Matheson, City Council Ward 3
- Ryan O’Malley , City Council Ward 4
- Barbara Murphy,City Council Ward 5
- Jerry Leone, City Council Ward 6
- Neal Anderson, City Council Ward 7
- Scott Ciccone, City Council Ward 7
- Jadeane Sica, City Council Ward 8
- Richard Correale Sr., City Council Ward 8
- Debbie DeMaria, City Council at-large
- David D’Arcangelo, City Council at-large
- Craig Spadafora, City Council at-large
- Mike Drummey, School Committee Ward 1
- Emmanuel Marsh, School Committee Ward 2
- Leonard Iovino, School Committee Ward 4
- Colleen Leon, School Committee Ward 6
- Catherine Bordonaro, School Committee Ward 7
- John Froio, School Committee Ward 8
