City of Malden PLUS

For starters - PLEASE DO NOT ASSIGN THIS REQUEST TO THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. They are a large part of the problem. We need someone from the City to hold the Engineering Department accountable for better communication with residents during major construction projects that impact our daily lives.

Please explain why the residents of a very small neighborhood are expected to put our lives on hold for 2 1/2 month for a paving project. How can it possibly require that much time to pave such a small area? If work will be intermittent during that extended period, please tell us ACTUAL DATES when parking will be impacted by the work.

Many people in this neighborhood do not have driveways. We rely on on-street parking not just for ourselves, but also for people working in our homes. Are we just expected to put our home repair projects, childcare needs, cleaning services, and home health services on hold for 2 1/2 months? Some of these services require equipment to be brought into our homes. These service providers need to park close to our homes, not in the next neighborhood. Some neighbors already rescheduled home repair projects due to previous work on our street. We cannot continue to do so. We also cannot cancel and reschedule these services on very short notice.

This is unacceptable. We need to know when we can park on our street far enough in advance to schedule the services that we need.

Once again, the Engineering Department has zero regard for the residents of our city. We've been through this previously in recent years. The gas line and water line replacements were also done with insufficient notice and unacceptable communication. Numerous SeeClickFix requests for better, more timely information during those projects went unanswered.

Why is the Engineering Department allowed to operate this way? Why are they the only department that does not reply to SeeClickFix reports? Why are they allowed to ignore residents while they negatively impact our lives for extended periods of time? Why can't they give us more timely notice about projects that have a MAJOR impact on the daily lives of residents? (We received notice of this current work THREE DAYS in advance.)

I see that a neighbor on Highland Ave has made several SCF requests to the Engineering Department to please address a street flooding issue that is backing up onto his private property, and this request has been unanswered and unaddressed for months.

If a private sector employee performed this way, they would quickly find themselves out of a job. When is the City going to show some concern, regard, understanding, and respect for its residents, and start holding the Engineering Department to a higher standard?

Accountability for City officials is likely going to be in voters' minds during the next Mayoral election. We've already had one recent abuse of power by a certain City Councillor make the local news. DO BETTER.