The City tells us they have no records for the Public Facilities emergency on Sunday, June 28. That was the day a resident provided photographs and video appearing to show a City of Malden Public Facilities truck traveling from the east side of Malden into Melrose around noon. Meanwhile, some residents have begun asking if city vehicles have GPS location monitoring, and if not why not.
The City does not have any responsive records to this request. - July 15, 2026
MNN reached out to the Public Facilities Director on June 30 inquiring about the vehicle travel. He responded twice and informed us “We did have an emergency and called in an employee that lives in Melrose and this would appear to be that."
The email responses failed to satisfy the underlying curiosity of the resident who spotted this vehicle transiting across the city on a Sunday. So MNN submitted a detailed and specific Public Records Request which was expected to generate simple work order-type records. (Request 2026-0286 is publicly available).
We expected at least basic facilities management records - especially given the classification of this as "an emergency". The name of the city facility? The nature of the emergency? A recap of work performed?
MNN received a response on July 15: 'The City does not have any responsive records to this request.' The FY27 budget for Public Facilities is $3,716,143.
According to city documents:
'The Public Facilities Department is responsible for the maintenance, operation, and improvement of all City-owned buildings and municipal grounds to ensure safe, clean, accessible, and efficient facilities for residents, employees, and visitors. The Department works to ensure that all municipal buildings meet or exceed applicable life safety, accessibility, and operational standards while supporting the uninterrupted delivery of public services.
The Department oversees preventative maintenance, facility repairs, custodial operations, capital improvement coordination, and emergency response efforts for municipal facilities throughout the City.'
