Mayor, Council, School Committee Take Oath of Office
Mayor Michael McGlynn, District Attorney Gerry Leone, and School Committee members Ann Marie Cugno and Robert E. Skerry. Leone administered the oath of office to McGlynn at the inauguration ceremony.
– Allison Goldsberry
It’s been twenty years since Michael McGlynn, son of former Mayor Jack McGlynn, was first sworn in as Mayor.
McGlynn took his oath of office for the eleventh time at Sunday’s inauguration ceremony, exhibiting as much energy and enthusiasm for Medford’s future as if it were his first two-year term.
The mayor began and ended his inauguration speech with an appeal to citizens’ involvement and community pride, which he said are at an “all-time high.”
He plans on channeling that energy and pride into two new projects- one to honor veterans and another to promote the arts.
McGlynn said the city will launch another fund-raising drive to honor veterans from the Desert Storm and Iraq conflicts, while also collecting names of veterans of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars that were inadvertently left off of the existing memorials. The Veterans Services Office will collect those names between January 23 and March 4, though McGlynn did not provide details on how the city plans to incorporate them into the memorials.
In another display of community pride, the city is planning to place mustang and colt statues decorated by artists around the city. The statues, modeled after the cows seen around Boston and New York in recent years, will depict themes such as city history and climate protection.
McGlynn acknowledged that rising costs and shrinking local aid have made his job more difficult, but he is optimistic about the city’s future and is eager to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
“[As] the pressures upon our city government become greater, I welcome the challenge and the accountability that goes with it. I shall continue to offer the leadership necessary to move our city forward and will not avoid the responsibility of making hard choices,” said McGlynn in his speech.
Over the next two years, new developments will change the face of Medford and will bring in more money from linkage payments, building permits fees, and property taxes. According to McGlynn, Station Landing alone has brought in $3.2 million and counting, with a new Boston Sports Club and 168-unit apartment complex opening this month.
In addition, the River’s Edge development, set to break ground this month, has brought in $640,000 in building permits fees with two projects that are converting the former brownfield into a riverfront park with office buildings and housing.
The revitalization of Medford Square is also at the top of the Mayor’s agenda for his eleventh term. Three projects will continue to move forward with the help of federal and state funding- the realignment of Clippership Drive, a new parking garage on Governors Avenue, and the rehabilitation of the Condon Shell. A master plan for the shell project, which so far has $700,000 in federal money dedicated to the effort, will be publicly announced in late January.
Like McGlynn, every incumbent Councilor and School Committee member took the oath of office today, including councilors Michael Marks, Stephanie Muccini Burke, Paul Camuso, Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Robert Maiocco, Frederick Dello Russo, Jr., and Robert Penta, and School Committee members Robert E. Skerry, Lena DiGiantommaso, William Brady, Ann Marie Cugno, Fred Pompeo, and Paulette Van der Kloot.
Councilor Burke, the Council’s likely president in 2008, said Medford Square revitalization will also be a top issue for the Council. Burke said the body is eager to move ahead with the project and will have its work cut out in dealing with the zoning changes necessary to make the Medford Square Master Plan a reality.
School Committee member Skerry, again selected as that body’s Vice-chairman, said the School Committee will continue to work hard to provide the best education possible for Medford’s students.
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