MALDEN — Malden residents will have to go at least another 11 days without a municipal treasurer after the City Council deadlocked in a 5-5 tie following several voting rounds late Wednesday night between a pair of high-profile candidates.
When it became apparent the vote between former Malden Ward 6 City Councilor Neil Kinnon and former MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis was deadlocked, the council agreed to postpone the vote to hire a new treasurer until its next regular meeting, Nov. 14.
Even that vote was contentious, passing by a slim margin, 6-4, as the council accepted the resolution postponing the vote offered by Councilor at Large Debbie DeMaria.
In another twist, the hiring decision which months ago evolved into the proverbial “political football,” will now hinge on the result of Tuesday’s general municipal election, namely, the result of the Ward 6 councilor race where a successor to replace Kinnon will be chosen.
Kinnon resigned his council post in late June and then emerged as one of two left from the more than 190 candidates for the city finances post.
The Ward 6 council seat has been empty since Kinnon’s resignation, leaving the council at 10 members, one short of its customary complement of 11. Assuming all 10 councilors stay with their votes, the new Ward 6 councilor will cast the deciding vote for treasurer at the next scheduled City Council meeting.
“The voters (in Ward 6) will essentially be electing a new ward councilor and also a new treasurer on Election Day,” veteran Ward 7 Councilor Neal Anderson said on the council floor Wednesday night, shortly before the resolution postponing the hiring vote was passed.
In the eventual 5-5 deadlocked vote, Councilors at Large David D’Arcangelo and Craig Spadafora were joined by Councilors Paul Condon (Ward 2), Barbara Murphy (Ward 5) and Jadeane Sica (Ward 8) in voting for Kinnon as treasurer in all three rounds before the postponement vote.
Council President Peg Crowe (Ward 1) and Councilor John Matheson (Ward 3) both voted for a third finalist, Malden resident Daniel Grover, in the first round. DeMaria and Councilors Ryan O’Malley (Ward 4) and Anderson (Ward 7) voted for Davis in round one.
Since the council preceded the formal roll call vote, where each councilor named their preferred candidate, with the proviso the candidate garnering the fewest votes would drop off for the next round, Kinnon and Davis were left as the two finalists.
In round two, the Kinnon backers all voted the same way. Crowe and Matheson then switched their vote to Davis, making it a deadlocked 5-5 tally.
On what had turned out to be a volatile evening, often riddled with contention, the council began a lengthy night which stretched toward midnight by publicly re-interviewing three finalists for the open position of treasurer with the intention of voting Wednesday to fill the seat that has been vacant since the departure of Mark Good in May.
The first interviewee was Davis, who formerly worked in executive positions at Hood Corp. and most recently at the MBTA where he served as general manager in his last job there.
Davis drew praise from all of his council questioners after the interview, including notably from Crowe, who also took time to clarify the job posting and the council’s intention.
“We are hiring a treasurer and a treasurer only,” Crowe said. “I think it has become a bit muddled. If we do choose to add duties pertaining to those of a CFO then we can decide that as a body at a future time. But all our questions are directed at treasurer candidates.
Crowe did say she believed Davis would fit both roles well, that of treasurer and CFO, if that decision was made. “I think (Davis) is an excellent candidate for both positions with his depth of experience in all of his previous (jobs),” Crowe said.
Ward 5 Councilor Murphy concurred, saying, “I like the way (Davis) described himself with the three words ‘open-honest-transparent.’ That’s exactly the qualities we are seeking for our next treasurer.”
“Integrity is built and that is what I have shown at Hood and at the MBTA,” Davis said after his interview. Davis also shared his wife works in Malden now. “We already talked about commuting together,” he added with a smile.
During his interview Davis detailed his extensive experience dealing with financial and budgetary matters at both Hood and the MBTA. He made it clear he would be prepared to fill either role, treasurer or CFO, depending on what opportunity arose. “Malden is a great city and I want to help it thrive,” Davis said.
Former Malden City Councilor Kinnon was interviewed second. The session began uneasily when the first questioner, Ward 4’s O’Malley, asked a series of questions regarding a past Malden Planning Board-council joint meeting where he alleged Kinnon had misrepresented a study he had cited regarding a correlation between affordable housing and special education services.
O’Malley used the term “red herring” at one point despite Kinnon’s detailed explanation of his actions and research into the matter brought up by O’Malley. The back-and-forth was ended by Council President Crowe, citing time constraints.
Kinnon then gave a detailed answer to a question by Councilor Murphy on his approach to his first 30 days in office. The former councilor said he would “know what it is to roll up my sleeves and get right to work. I would hit the ground running and have an outline and a plan from day one as treasurer.” Kinnon cited his already-established relationships with key figures in the city and school department’s finance offices as a major plus to being able to get work done right away.
Kinnon continued to cite his familiarity with the city and its needs as well as his extensive 20 years of experience as a municipal agent, as city councilor and before that as Malden Fire commissioner and also DPW commissioner.
“There is no candidate with direct treasurer’s experience, but what I do have is this breadth of experience in financial matters right here in this city as a city councilor who has worked through 11 fiscal year budgets, all on the Finance Committee as either chairman or member,” Kinnon said. “I know this city and how its finances work.”
When asked indirectly about his personality and supervisory style, Kinnon said in his last two positions, his present post where he supervises six people and former job where he was in charge of more than 600 employees, Kinnon said, “I accidentally became a city councilor. I am not a politician. I ran for city councilor (in 2007) because I wanted to contribute to my community. This is not a popularity contest. You need to hire the person who can absolutely do the best job for the next 10 years.”
Kinnon said he was well-suited to work for the mayor and city council and report as needed at council meetings. “I prefer to be the right hand of the person in charge, the right hand of the CEO. I was once called a ‘good soldier’ by Councilor Condon during my time as fire commissioner and that was a big honor to me.”
Daniel Grover, a Malden resident, was the third interviewee and like the other two candidates stressed he would become “immersed in the treasurer’s office right away and develop relationships.” Grover said he would reach out immediately to gather information. “I would let them do what they need to do (in the treasurer’s office. I wouldn’t be there to micromanage.”