The project is not, however, without its detractors. Since the negotiators have no legal authority to enact their recommendations many observers are reserving judgement on the project until it produces significant results. A handful are even more critical, calling the study frivolous and off base

Everyone agrees that the most serious problem facing Malden is financial. A 1982 study by a team of University of Massachusetts, Amherst economists showed the city was teetering on the brink of financial failure because of declining Federal aid a shrinking tax base, a high demand for services and poor management.

"Without some form of intervention in the near future. Malden faces a severe financial future," concluded the report. The coordinator of that study, Catherine T. Flynn, said of the 20 cities and towns her group has analyzed, "Malden was by far the worst."

Hence, the most controversial point of the final agreement concluded last month was a recommendation that city voters approve a one year override of Proposition 2 1/2, the 1980 statewide referendum which limited property taxes to 2 1/2 percent of assessed value

In 1980 Malden residents voted for the referendum two to one. But the negotiated agreement states: "With full understanding of the implications, Malden residents should consider voting to override Proposition 2 1/2 for one year as a means of capturing the increased revenues made available by increase in property values."

The override is perhaps the most extreme example of what critics cite most frequently--the difficulty of implementing the group's proposals

The NIS negotiators have no legal authority to enact their recommendations and many, including key members of the project, are uncertain how many of the ideas will actually come to fruition

"What happens is that you revert to your roles I'm back doing what I do. The citizens are back doing what they do and the city is back doing what it does, and that's where the whole thing can fall down," says Rotondo

"Implementation that's going to be the bugaboo," he adds. "I think there needs to be a lot more thinking to make these things work."

Still only a small fraction of the proposals will actually cost anything, and according to Tarallo, fundraising for some, such as a clean-up fund for the city are already underway. Malden's annual budget is approximately $40 million, but the city is already beginning to reorganize its finances and is beefing up its lobbying efforts on Beacon Hill to secure more state and, he adds.

For the recommendations not requiring city funds, implementation has been largely left up to the negotiators, and they say the key to seeing the plan through is educating their neighbors.

They say they must continue their efforts to urge citizens and government officials to accept their recommendations. These range from requiring parents of high school students to sign a statement saying they have read the course selection pamphlet and discussed their children's selections with them to urging the city and local civic organizations to give awards for beautification and improvement to property owners.

Those asked to implement the recommendations by and large seem willing, but some question their usefulness. For instance, Superintendent of Malden Schools Paul Phaneus says he is amenable to most of the suggestions, but says. "I wasn't too impressed by [the project]. I don't think anyone is taking this too seriously

He cites as an example the NIS recommendation that: There should be greater publicity given to the ways in which the schools make financial decisions. Citizens should be encouraged to use this information and increase their understanding of the school's budget process

Phaneus says all of the School Committee's budget meetings are open to the public and advertised in the local newspapers but that few citizens ever attend. "Hell, they just don't attend the budget meetings. The people who are saying this are the ones we never see," he says

Susskind says cynicism like Phaneus's is the biggest obstacle to the NIS' success. He says that people are too quick to assume the project cannot work and let the gams carried so far fall by the wayside. "It's going to take a lot more successes to convince people that this kind of thing can work," he says

To bring about that change, advocates of the strategy must overcome what J. William Breslin, the executive editor of the Malden Evening News during the project, characterizes as the Malden mentality, which he says is "a combination of apathy and suspicion of outsiders."

He says that in the early stages of the negotiations many of the team members were skeptical of the project, but, as they began to work, enthusiasm built. Breslin, who is now the director of publications for the Project on Negotiation, notes that many of Malden's residents remain uninformed about the city's problems and must be better informed before they will support some of the recommendations

To help in that education, NIS team members must continue to organize support for the project even though their formal role is largely over participants say. Susskind is confident there is enough momentum from the project to carry it through, but most observers are taking a want and see attitude. The beautification work is the most noticeable result of the project to date, and most are reserving judgement to see how many of the other proposals actually come to fruition