YEAR IN REVIEW: Taking a look at Malden’s Top 10 Stories of 2023

Mayor Christenson’s reelection, City Council passage of MBTA Communities 3A Zoning ordinance top the list

Advocate Staff Report

1. Mayor Gary Christenson reelected to a historic, unprecedented fourth four-year term as Mayor in November.

Malden voters on November 7 reelected Mayor Gary Christenson to an unprecedented fourth, four-year term on Election Day by a nearly three-to-one margin, the biggest win of his four-election history. “I thank my family, my staff and all of my constituents for this show of support,” Mayor Christenson told those gathered at Anthony’s in Malden on Election Night, after his reelection was announced. “I promise I will continue to give you my all.” Christenson’s victory, according to the unofficial results released by the Malden City Clerk’s Office shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, showed an overwhelming victory where the incumbent received 5,530 votes to 2,087 for the challenger, first-time candidate Lissette Aracely Alvarado. Christenson won every precinct in the city, in all eight Wards, on Tuesday, a resounding 71-28 percent win, his largest victory in the three contested races he has won in his four mayoral elections. He ran unopposed once, in 2015.

2. Malden City Council unanimously passes MBTA Communities Law for transit 3A zoning compliance.

Malden is officially in compliance with perhaps the most controversial mandates that have been placed on this community in this century. After a nearly two-year odyssey of planning, preparation and discussion input from elected officials, consultants, city agencies and members of the public, the Council Tuesday night voted 10-1 to pass the final iteration of a zoning overlay ordinance that puts Malden in compliance with the MBTA Communities Law.

The MBTA Communities law was adopted in 2021 and requires some 177 cities and towns served by the transit agency – including Malden – to have at least one zoning district “of reasonable size” where multifamily housing is allowed within a half-mile of a commuter rail, subway or bus station or ferry terminal, if applicable. Malden has two rapid transit stations with Orange Line and Commuter Rail service: Malden Center, located on Commercial Street in the heart of the downtown, and Oak Grove Station, located at Washington and Winter Streets.

3. City officials proclaim big win for Malden in announcement of new mental health center at site of former Malden Hospital; public meetings are held in 2023.

It’s been over two decades since Hallmark Health officially closed Malden Hospital, effectively leaving residents on the Medford line to deal with the vacant property. After years of failed plans aiming to finally develop the former hospital, Tufts Medicine and Acadia Healthcare Company announced in 2022 that they are planning a behavioral health facility on the site. Public meetings began in 2023 – the most recent in September 2023. The joint venture is set to build a 144-bed inpatient facility that will address the critical need for accessible behavioral health services for patients of all ages in the Greater Boston area. Amanda Linehan, city council representative for Ward 3, where the site is located, explains that the residents are keen on developing the site as well as preserving part of the land.

“When I was going door to door asking folks what ‘would you like to see there?’ It was a mixture of preservation,” says Linehan. “[Others] would say, ‘it was great having a community hospital there, I wish we could have some type of health care or public health use.” Mayor Gary Christenson, along with city council representatives, such as Linehan, MelroseWakefield hospital and Tufts executives, worked together to execute a plan for the structure.

4. Malden was hit with a serious cyberattack in January on municipal digital information systems, prompting “full court press” investigation.

The City of Malden used a “full court press” of local, state and federal resources to conduct a deep investigation of a serious cyberattack on municipal digital information systems. The key focus of the response team and joint resources was to assess the full impact of the cyberattack and consequently determine if there had been a data breach of municipal information as a result of the January 25 cyberattack. A breach was found, with private information of a number of municipal employees exposed.

The cyberattack shut down nearly all of the city’s information technology (IT) systems for a period of time on January 25, including internet access and municipal telephones, in addition to other IT programs city employees use to perform necessary tasks on a daily basis.

5. Ward 5 Councillor Barbara Murphy says goodbye after 14 years and seven terms at City Hall.

Councillor Murphy, first elected in 2009, is essentially “retiring” to spend more time with her family, after deciding not to run for an 8th term this past fall. Ari Taylor prevailed in November’s election and Ward 5 has a new Councillor for the first time in nearly a decade and a half. Murphy thanked all of her fellow Councillors and expressed her gratitude with being elected to serve Ward 5 for seven consecutive terms. “Being a Councillor has been the experience of a lifetime,” Councillor Murphy said at the meeting. “It is truly something I would not ever change. “The people that you meet, the problems you get to solve, it definitely broadens your horizon on what it takes to run a city and all of its moving parts,” Murphy added.

”Barbara’s done an incredible job,” said Ward 2’s Paul Condon. “She has set objectives and though it is sometimes a bumpy road on the Council, she has been fair to everyone and developed a sense of trust.

”Your impact here will be everlasting,” Councillor-At-Large Craig Spadafora, who has served for 20 consecutive years on the Council, said to Murphy.

6. String of summer shootings rattle Malden residents, spur citywide public safety meetings with city officials, Malden Police.

The residents of Emerald Street in the historically tranquil Edgeworth section of Malden are far from naive. They know they nor any part of the city are immune from any type of crime, even violent in nature. That is why the incident dominating the headlines in July concerned residents from that neighborhood and beyond on July 13. They all came to an Emergency Public Safety Meeting called and organized by Ward 2 Councillor Paul Condon that was held at the Irish American Club, sited at a literal stone’s throw – about 50 feet from the front door – from where a group of Malden young people were involved in a potentially deadly incident. There were also two other shootings within weeks of the Devir Park incident, a broad daylight shooting in late June outside New York Pizza in Malden Square and an unrelated shooting in the lobby of an Overlook Ridge apartment building.

7. City mourns passing of icon, former City Clerk Karen Anderson.

The news was announced in the very seat of municipal government, where she ran proceedings with precision, ethics and civic pride for over three decades. It took the air out of the room and the tears flowed freely thereafter. Karen Anderson, 68, died on Tuesday, March 14, at her home in Malden, after a brief illness. Recognized as a true icon in Malden city government, both during her tenure and to this day, she served as City Clerk and Chair of the Board of Registrars of Voters for 33 years – from 1984 until her retirement in 2017 – the longest-serving keeper of those posts in municipal history.

8. Malden christens new $3.1 million Devir Park rehabilitation project.

Mayor Gary Christenson and Ward 2 Councillor Paul Condon celebrated the completion of construction at Devir Park. The construction project included Phase I of the Devir Park Master Plan, which was developed in 2020. The improvements include a brand-new playground with a splash pad, a community plaza, a new basketball court and a half court and accessible walking paths. Work also included planting 17 new trees, new lighting, a water bottle filler and upgrades to park entrances, fencing, utilities and parking. The project also removed approximately 1,700 tons of ashen soil that was discovered during construction. “This transformative project reinvigorates Malden’s largest park and is a testament to what we can accomplish together as a community,” said Mayor Christenson. “The Devir Park project demonstrates our commitment to universal accessibility, safe and exciting play spaces for children and families, to expanding our urban tree canopy, and creating a welcoming environment for everyone in our community.”

9. Jeanne Marquardo honored for 50 years of service to the Malden Public Schools.

She is not an easy person to surprise, that’s for sure! That is what happens when you have been an employee at the same place for a lot of years. Malden High School’s Jeanne Marquardo was indeed surprised, however, when a group of over 40 of her colleagues and some local city and school dignitaries got together in The Gallery at MHS for a late afternoon gathering to commemorate half a decade of employment at the school. Marquardo has been serving students and staff at MHS as part of the Malden Public Schools since 1972, the year she graduated from the very high school where she still works. Attending the big event was Malden Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ligia Noriega-Murphy and Mayor Gary Christenson, among many others. ”Jeanne [Marquardo] has done an amazing job here at Malden High School for all of the 50 years she has been serving the district and we are so grateful for all her contributions,” Supt. Dr. Noriega-Murphy said.

10. Malden’s Salemwood K-8 School sets certified Guinness World Record for most people polka dancing.

Students and staff at the Malden Salemwood K-8 School shattered the 10-year-old Guinness Book of World Records for “Most People Polka Dancing.” The previous record was 802 people and the Salemwood group had over 900 people certified as polka dancing in the park beside the school on June 15.

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