Former Chelsea public works director and current Reading Town Manager Fidel Maltez is the City Council’s unanimous choice as the next City Manager.
The council took the vote Monday night, ending a search process to replace former City Manager Tom Ambrosino that began after his resignation in January.
The vote came after a full day of interviews of the four finalists for the position on Saturday, and some debate on Monday on whether to table the vote to the council’s next meeting on Oct. 16.
Ultimately, the council voted to move ahead with the selection process on Monday night, with many of the councilors offering glowing praise for Maltez.
In the first vote, Council President Leo Robinson voted for City Solicitor Cheryl Watson Fisher, praising her long service to the city and many accomplishments. But after a 10-1 vote for Maltez, Robinson made the motion to make Maltez’s selection unanimous.
The other two finalists for the position were state consumer affairs undersecretary James Duggan and Shirley Town Administrator Michael McGovern.
“I’m incredibly thankful and incredibly humbled,” said Maltez. “I did my best to be honest in the process and to share my professional experience, but most importantly, who I am as an individual, my personal story. I really tried to share that I am an immigrant and that I fought hard to get to where I am, and I feel that that is the story of Chelsea.
“It is a community of immigrants, but also a community of strong people who fight and struggle and there is nothing that phases us that we cannot take on.”
Maltez said his time running the public works department in Chelsea for five years, as long with his last two years as town manager in Reading, has provided him with invaluable experience.
“Public works is very much involved in the day-to-day operation of a city,” said Maltez. “That experience gave me a lot of knowledge citywide – all the challenges folks are facing on a day-to-day basis – and public works also has the ability to collaborate with public safety, planning, and other departments.”
Maltez said he was thankful for his opportunity in Reading and to get more experience in the running of a government.
“I certainly got a lot of hands-on municipal experience in finance and in the running of a government on a day-to-day basis, things that you would never see unless you were in the seat,” said Maltez. “These past two years have been incredibly important to me, and I’ve grown a lot both personally and professionally.”
The council still needs to negotiate a final contract with Maltez, so there is no set start date for him at this point.
However, Maltez said he does plan on getting resituated to Chelsea in the ramp up to taking over as city manager, meeting with city leaders and residents.
Maltez and his wife have lived in Chelsea for nearly a decade, and they bought a home in Admiral’s Hill in 2017.
“My goal is, between today and the time that I officially start in the job, to really spend a lot of time reintroducing myself to the city,” said Maltez. “I think a lot of people know me because of my time in Chelsea and because I live in Chelsea, but this is going to be a new role, a new level of engagement, so I plan to spend a lot of time in the community meeting with organizations and meeting with different groups.”
Maltez said he also plans to spend time with city employees to help ease the transition.
District 4 Councilor Tanairi Garcia said she worked with Maltez helping residents during the Covid pandemic and was impressed by his commitment to do whatever it took to help residents. As an immigrant, Maltez will also serve as someone many youth in the city can look up to, Garcia said.
District 2 Councilor Melinda Vega said her vote came down to Maltez and Watson Fisher, and that she was ultimately swayed by the closing statement Maltez made during Saturday’s interview.
“His story resonates with the majority of the community, and he is representative of the community,” said Vega.
District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor cast his vote for Maltez, and said his vote was based solely on who he thought was going to do the best job for the city of Chelsea. He said Maltez stated that the long-term financial stability of the city was his number one priority, an issue that Taylor said has always been of utmost importance to him.