Candidate for Ward 3 City Councilor: Robb
By Ellen Putnam
Photo From Robb Stewart
Robb Stewart is running for a fourth term representing Ward 3 on the City Council because, he said, “I have a strong network in the community, and I want to continue to represent and serve the residents of Ward 3 and provide the perspective of someone who’s lived here for a long time.”
“I believe that I am an effective contributor during City Council meetings,” he added, “and I do my best to represent the community and provide an unbiased perspective by asking questions and sharing observations that reflect my constituents. And I enjoy the work - I think it’s fun. There are challenging aspects of it, and there are stressful parts, but in general, I really enjoy doing it.”
If reelected, Stewart would be the most senior member of the Council, which he sees as a strength. “I’m well connected with the administration,” he said, “and I have a lot of experience working with them. I can get things done quickly. When I get a phone call or an email - the trash didn’t get picked up, for instance - I know how to take care of that kind of situation.”
“I understand the process,” he went on, “and I know what’s important. Setting the levy for taxes, for instance - the first time we did it, I had no idea of the ramifications, but now I understand how it works and the implications for both residents ad local businesses.”
Stewart is a sales executive at a consulting firm. “I manage people,” he said, “and I do a lot of listening, assimilating, and making decisions on a daily basis. I work with a lot of numbers - my book of business is twice the size of the annual budget here. I’m comfortable with how finance works. A really critical aspect of being a city councilor is knowing how these numbers play out - and I’ve learned that it’s very different from the private sector. It takes a level of experience to understand that.”
As to what guides his work on the City Council, Stewart said, “I try to hold myself to a very high ethical standard personally and professionally, and I aim to carry that ethical standard into the community in how I serve. It comes with respecting my fellow councilors, respecting the opinions that come from the community, and respecting everyone in the mayor’s administration - all of our public servants.”
“I view the council chair as a nonpartisan seat,” he continued. “not aligned to any political party. I try to instead focus on local issues and help people find common ground in any kind of situation that needs a resolution, particularly when people get passionate. In a local setting, it’s important for everybody to have a voice, and I can help amplify voices on all sides, to make sure everyone is heard.”
“We are fortunate that our community is very strong,” Stewart went on. “When people need to step up, they do. I see a wave of younger people who are active and energized, bringing their families into the community, coupled with people who have been here much longer - it gives us a nice balance and mix. And our community is becoming more diverse and multicultural. All of these factors combined give us a vibrant community.”
“And I think we have a strong administration at City Hall,” he added, “Mayor Jen and her team are doing a fantastic job, particularly with the resources that they have right now. She’s not afraid to make hard decisions, she works with the City Council and she communicates well with us - they’re another real asset to our community.”
Photo From Robb Stewart
“Our biggest challenge,” Stewart said, “is to overcome some of the perceptions that people have about the budget and where we stand as a city. It’s clear that our resources are stretched, which is creating a lot of hardships, especially in the schools. It’s clear that having larger classes strains children, and the children who need extra support are under even more pressure. And it creates tension across the entire community because people who don’t have children feel compelled to support a situation they may not directly benefit from.”
“As a Council, we unanimously endorsed the override questions, which I fully support,” he went on. “And as individuals on the Council, I believe it’s our job to go out and communicate what the city’s financial reality is and where we’re heading, depending on the decision the community makes on the override.”
“It’s also the City Council’s job to consider all services when we are reviewing the budget,” Stewart said. “For example, police and fire play a critical role in the community, and we have to weigh those priorities with our investment in the schools, so we can maintain a healthy equilibrium. It’s our job to work with the administration to understand what their decision-making process is and confirm or challenge their recommendations. The City Council should be able to help and give guidance on making smart and prudent choices, to help us manage the resources that are available to us and plan for the future.”
“Our city’s financial challenges are serious and significant,” he emphasized. “The city cannot operate at the current levels of service if there are any further cuts. It’s just plain and clear.”
“When we were going through the most recent budgetary process, and we were looking at the cuts that had to be made,” Stewart went on, “when I sat down one-on-one with Mayor Jen, and she revealed what she had to do to balance the budget. It was quite clear that, without an override to support next year’s budget, there would be significant repercussions across all aspects of the city with only a 2.5% increase in revenue.”
“When I’m out campaigning, I am communicating the pros and cons of an override versus not having an override,” he said. “I want people to understand that they do have a choice, but I want them to also understand very clearly what each choice will represent for them, and what would be impacted. The impacts are very different for a senior citizen versus for a family with two children, but there are impacts for both of those groups, and for everybody in between.”
“I think the city is going to be significantly impacted if the override doesn’t pass - it will affect everyone in the city negatively,” Stewart went on. “Everyone thinks it’s going to be about the schools, but it’s about a lot more than just the schools. It will also affect the services we might take for granted: the city yard, the senior center and the services they provide, veterans services, the library, the health department, recreation, parks, trees, roads, holiday events, special events, even Memorial Hall - all of these could be impacted negatively, and it will, in one way or another, affect everyone in the city. So personally, I will be voting for all three override questions.”
“Regardless of decisions voters make in November, it’s important for us to continue to have a strong public school system,” he added. “It’s the foundation of any strong community - and the math just makes sense for anybody who lives here and owns property. It really makes a difference in terms of actual and perceived value of the community. There’s absolutely a direct correlation between property values and the performance of the school system, and if the school system declines, that impacts property values in the aggregate as well as individually.”
“Where I can help on the City Council,” he said, “is by supporting a lot of what the School Committee is bringing forward, and working with them and the administration in terms of budgeting. We don’t have a lot of input on specific line items - that’s the School Committee’s job - but we can support their goals overall. The schools are the most important part of budget as we go through - they’re really key.”
Stewart also prioritizes supporting the city’s senior population. “They’re like the bedrock of the city,” he said, “and we need to continue to provide services for them. For example, the Milano Senior Center does a lot - it provides transportation, helps with managing health insurance, creates all these engaging activities to keep that community moving forward. It’s especially important for us in Ward 3 because the Milano Center serves over 1000 seniors in the community, and many of them come from the senior housing right across the street. It’s near and dear to my heart, and it’s my goal to hear and represent what their needs are.”
“I see it as two ends of a spectrum,” Stewart emphasized. “I think it’s really important to think about our children and to think about our senior population.”
Photo From Robb Stewart
Stewart also talked about supporting the city’s veterans - “The city does a great job supporting this group,” he said, “and it’s important to keep the services we provide to them going and continue to help them.”
And he talked about speeding, which, he said, “is endemic across the community and a constant complaint by many residents. I’ve worked with DPW to have stop signs installed in several locations to help slow traffic, had two flashing crosswalks installed in the ward, and placed pedestrian signs at strategic crosswalk locations.” He also discussed managing infrastructure challenges within Ward 3, controlling speeding, and finishing the public safety buildings project “on time, on budget, and with a minimum of impact to residents.”
“There are a lot of things we need to work on,” he said, “so I try to focus on areas where I can be impactful and help make change - and on things that are a priority to the folks in my community.”
When legislating, Stewart said, “Reading and doing the research is essential. If it’s something that’s been put forward by the administration, and if there’s something I don’t understand or feel I don’t agree with, I communicate with whoever created the legislation and ask questions to understand their thought process before I reach a conclusion.”
“And if something impacts the community, I go talk to people to get their opinions,” he went on. “I think it’s extremely important to hear different views, and I like to listen carefully to each perspective before I come to a decision. There have been times when I’ve come in dead-set on a certain position on an issue, and I’ve had my thought process changed by hearing other perspectives from residents or my fellow councilors. There are a lot of smart people that contribute, both on the Council and in the community, and it’s helpful to hear from them and get those different perspectives. I think coming to the table with an open mind is very important.”
As an example, Stewart talked about a meeting during the most recent budget process, when the City Council was voting to appropriate free cash for tree planting. “I felt really strongly about limiting the money we spend on trees. Not because we didn’t need them, but because the performance I saw in terms of planting by the third party hired by the city wasn’t to the level I would expect - they were planting on hot days and compromising the health of trees. I thought it made sense to send a message that the service needed to be done better, but it was also important to have trees - so that’s where the compromise came in. I proposed a vote for half of the proposed funds, and the rest of the Council agreed to it.”
The Council’s discussion of an ordinance to regulate food trucks was another point of conflict Stewart brought up. “Certain people were enthusiastic about it, and others had concerns, so we needed to collectively bring those perspectives together to be able to come up with an informed opinion.”
“I was initially not in favor of having food trucks anywhere near our city center,” he went on, “because we have a good downtown that is alive - there are not very many buildings that are empty, thank goodness. We have a lot of restaurants, and they live and die by us going there repeatedly. If we bring in food trucks, my number one concern is how they would impact our brick-and-mortar businesses downtown, and compromise their ability to be successful. I commend the Legal and Legislative Committee for hearing these concerns and continuing to work toward a solution that addresses these open questions, including mine.”
Stewart has lived in Melrose for 35 years, and he and his wife have a daughter who is now a senior in high school. “My number one passion is my family,” he said. He enjoys bicycling, and often goes for long rides throughout the North Shore. Stewart is also an avid chess player, and ran the chess program at the Lincoln Elementary School for a number of years.
