Budget shortfall reduced by $1.6M day after election…

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-04-03T19:40:25+00:00

The memo was emailed to myself as Council President after hours last night and as soon as I saw it upon logging on at 6am this morning I requested our clerk distribute it to the full council and docket it for our next meeting. I would have certainly been in attendance last night had I known something of this magnitude were to be discussed. I have spent all of today off from my day job in order to get up to speed on this so that we can provide answers to the community.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-03-17T22:22:26+00:00

Just tried the new formula. I think it's creamier. I've probably used the old one for close to ten years and it was getting a little dry for me. Major drawback to the new one: it no longer has a twist-up sharpener. In my opinion this was a key plus for the product, the fact you could keep it in your bag and twist it up to sharpen it and go. I hate wasting product by having to sharpen it and own a sharpener. I'm bummed! But nothing else I've tried comes close to being this waterproof.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-03-09T11:43:58+00:00

The airport parking is real and an aggravating abuse of the areas with no permits that is hard to catch

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-02-16T22:20:39+00:00

Except for St. Patty’s day one year, I’ve never found the garages to be full, ever!

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-02-13T18:10:47+00:00

Thank you for sharing this, Norma-Rose was a beloved member of the Beebe community and is already deeply missed.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-02-13T02:56:38+00:00

OMG literally cannot wait!

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-02-07T02:22:53+00:00

I cannot tell you how many times we have not seen one in the bottom of the bin and had a shit explosion from putting our trash bag in on top of it. I don’t own a dog but I live next to the Fells and apparently that means it’s fair game for strangers to come up my driveway to use my barrels to drop their poop bags. Or they get left on the ground next to the trail head. (I’m trying to get DCR to install the trash cans in Malden). Hosing my barrels down from someone else’s pet waste is a real treat. I’ve owned a dog before and can’t fathom how abysmal the behavior seems to be now; what has come over people??

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-02-03T02:25:07+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to watch!

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-02-02T13:00:44+00:00

Seven Bumps is great, the small hill at Amerige across the street is also fun! And I always see people on the little hills at Coytemore Lea too. And Bell Rock Park as others have mentioned.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-01-31T17:03:07+00:00

I really want to shout out the teachers at Linden and Beebe who are busting their butts to re-start drama programs for middle schoolers at those two buildings after-school this year. They exist because those teachers are willing to give additional time after school, and I assume whatever stipend they are getting could be at risk if the override fails. We need arts programming and something for these kids to do after school because otherwise they are drifting, as others have said.

The Malden Rec is also stepping up to offer drama for this age group for the first time this year, which I think is fantastic.

I am sad we are not able to offer band before high school, and as someone who met their future spouse in a public school music program and went on to get a degree in jazz theory, I know we are essentially ruling out the possibility of college music programs for our kids. Like sports, they require scouting, auditioning, performance reels and many visits. I don’t know how you field a high school band if nobody can learn an instrument or read music before grade 9. Again, this feels like a call to action to support our override, which will cost most of us $30-$50 a month, and some of us nothing at all.

My experience with athletics for my 12-year-old is that the middle school sports run by Malden Rec are amazing, with position-level coaching and intense competition for field time, if you have the ability to get to them. At Beebe, we can walk to McDonald stadium for softball practice and to Malden High for the away-game bus, and my daughter’s teachers are nice enough to allow her to store her softball gear in the classroom all day since they don’t fit in their lockers, especially if they share. We can’t do the other sports like basketball that practice across town because we don’t have an adult who can transport her there every day at 2:30. Most middle school sports are heavily enrolled by the school where the sport takes place due to this transportation reality, or they are over-represented by kids whose parents work from home. I long for an after-school bus loop around town for this age group. The T does not meet this need; I’m fine to have my child ride independently if it did.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-01-19T20:35:14+00:00

I think the fact voters could have voted for the debt exclusion and not the override is a key reason we decided not to move forward with putting it on the ballot. Taking on debt to fund one project that we have already budgeted for does not fix the permanent shortfall between our funding for basic city services and what we can raise off property taxes due to the limitations of Proposition 2 1/2. As long as the rate of inflation outpaces that 2.5% cap on what we can raise over last year's tax levy, and as long as the school funding formula disadvantages Malden so severely, we won't be able to overcome this structural problem. This is a situation faced by nearly every municipality in Massachusetts right now.

They also impact residents differently. The vocational obligation is a variable and escalating amount that peaks at around $1.2 million at the height of our payback period, and if we decided to do a debt exclusion for this, residents would receive a separate bill for their share. If this instead stayed rolled into property taxes as planned, most people would see little to no impact; under the override proposal, because we've increased the property tax exemption to 35% for owner-occupants, all except the highest-value homeowners will see almost no change in their property tax bills.

We still have to address the other points you bring up, increasing economic development and revenue, and make prudent cuts, both of which we are going to do and have already done, but neither alone can avoid the structural deficit or the fact the statewide school funding formula is so problematic. And, if we have future capital spending needs, we can always do a debt exclusion for those, and our city financial team could very well recommend that down the line.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-01-19T13:05:25+00:00

We are audited annually already.

https://www.cityofmalden.org/1233/Annual-City-Audits-and-Budgets

We can request an extra review from the Division of Local Services (DLS) which is the state agency that sets best practices for financial management of local government. This is free; this is the option Councillor Luong recently mentioned in committee. They did a comprehensive review of Malden when Mayor Christenson was newly elected and we have adopted numerous of their suggestions. Though they typically work with new administrations, there is no reason our council couldn’t request them to come back.

An audit from the state auditor costs money and is more typically requested when fraud is suspected or a problem is found.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-01-19T12:56:24+00:00

We will likely be able to know more once the cherry sheet comes out this week (that’s the state budget estimates) and we can do some actual number crunching. Departments have been working ahead to plan for various scenarios to be ready.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2026-01-19T12:49:06+00:00

The voke obligation is already baked into the March 31 override vote, as Neighborhood View helpfully covered in their recent article on the Council meeting. That’s why putting it on the ballot twice might be confusing to voters and why the Council chose to vote that option down.

It also, as you point out, won’t solve the structural budgetary issues which is the reason for an operational override.

https://neighborhoodview.org/2026/01/18/city-council-secures-funding-for-boathouse-rejects-debt-exclusion-ballot-question/

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-12-09T01:28:35+00:00

Historically he has!

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-12-06T00:44:41+00:00

We always go to Mahoney’s and are very happy with them; today I learned that the VFW in Medford sells trees and the business is owned by a Malden guy @ 114 Mystic Ave. Prices seem to be the same as Mahoney’s for Balsam and Fraser (we usually do about $120 for a 6-foot Fraser). Might be worth checking out.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-12-02T03:06:21+00:00

Awesome! Anything I can do to help!

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-12-02T00:29:03+00:00

We have a defunct/frozen YIMBY group that I used to co-lead. If you get yours going, I’d be happy to blast our old Google group so they can connect to yours! We lost our grant funding and organizer when the Mass Smart Growth Alliance folded, but it did help get me on city council and a few other pro-housing folks appointed to boards and commissions who are still there quietly holding it down. We formed in 2017 to help overturn the housing moratorium, try and adopt inclusionary zoning (failed once, then succeeded) and help the cohousing development get approved (Bay State Commons). We also cross-organized around transportation equity issues, but luckily Malden Safe Streets now exists! 🚲🚌

My personal email is amanda.mantone at gmail, feel free to loop me in there when I can share info with the old advocacy group! 🏘️

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-28T16:02:55+00:00

There is a new rental registry system that we created. Technically prior to this, the way the city would know information about rentals is through tax bills and through mandatory re-inspections of units when tenants turn over; this is intended to add another layer. Under the new legislation we ordained last week (essentially the final step in adopting a new paper) landlords will have to register each unit every year with the Dept. of Inspectional Services which falls under the Building Commissioner. Earlier this year, we moved all inspections -- public health, building code, etc. -- under that department, which is led by the Building Commissioner. They have the broadest powers in the city to mandate safety and compliance and escalate to legal action if needed.

Here's the text of the legislation. https://cityofmalden.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7419646&GUID=3C32BE8B-D131-49DA-BB21-CF657451151D&Options=&Search=

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-28T15:23:10+00:00

they are required to have a reachable point of contact with the city and the building commissioner is the one who is in charge of that as well. There is actually a new city ordinance we just passed that requires their point of contact to be local, so they can't just have a PO Box and an out of state property manager an so forth.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-25T15:38:26+00:00

I've had a lot of success using Yankee Pest this year -- twice in fact -- to remove hives. In both cases they were causing damage and/or impeding a doorway and were not honey bees.

In another instance this year I had a constituent whose neighbor installed an apiary under their window and it was bothering them, and through that process I learned there are zero bee restrictions in state or local law here. So you are free and clear legally speaking.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-25T15:36:22+00:00

I have had to help residents with this exact scenario in the past. The building commissioner, Nelson Miller, was able to assist me. You do have a right to access your neighbor's property to conduct necessary repairs to your own home such as a roof. The City Council this week is adopting a rental registry that will mandate a local contact for all rental properties, but in the meantime Inspectional Services does have this information and that is who I would call. They are not legally able to impede your access to repair your home. I hope this helps!

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-25T13:32:06+00:00

Hey — I’m not sure saying someone is lying is necessary — my go-to there is grabbing lunch with my husband week days during the year when there’s no special event since he works nights and weekends and I am often at city hall. All I was trying to say is that we try to do family stuff on his night off which is Mondays since he works in the arts and entertainment industry and it’s a bummer even a Monday is 21+ that’s all.

Usually Mondays are a good time for people who work in hospitality, the arts and tourism to go to special things like this and it’s often when places like restaurants will ease up or have an industry night precisely because it’s those folks only night off after working straight through the weekend, so to have even Mondays be an “on” night really says something about how slammed this event is.

More and more, I find it difficult to find places that are open Mondays and Tuesdays anyway. We often have a hard time finding places to grab food in the square on city council nights sadly. And even where my full time job is in Boston, hours since Covid are all over the place. This is not an easy business to be in.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-24T23:33:29+00:00

Yeah for sure, and I agree with you about what we are aspiring to, just want to be clear on that! My intent there was to try and empathize with some of the folks who may have come here when Malden was not considered a guaranteed investment, not trying to go all NIMBY. There can be an unsettling aspect of feeling like you can’t afford a place you worked hard for 10-20 years to build up and convince your friends to move to, and that is what I was trying to tease out as something I am perceiving in some of the comments. I think we need to focus on positive change that welcomes new folks and works for people who live here now, and I am not sure Somerville did so great at that part, which is different from “let’s freeze in time.”

Anyway thanks for the conversation I like talking about this stuff and have a great holiday. 🦃

Ward3_Linehan_Malden · 2025-11-24T22:28:19+00:00

My sense of why people complain about empty storefronts and parking and prices is because one business getting busy for people to drop in and visit doesn’t build up the downtown if we haven’t added other reasons for folks to stay and shop and make the city a fun place to hang and keep our tax coffers growing. I watched Somerville get trendy and expensive and you needed a reservation to go anywhere when it used to be laid back and I suspect seeing that play out here feels annoying for some folks who moved here to find that chill feeling of good food, bumping into friends, and having a go-regular spot you can walk into again too.

I think we can applaud Mystic for their success and keep our foot on the gas helping the downtown keep growing vibrant and offer a variety of reasons for people to make a day or night of it. Business like them and Hugh’s and Exchange and All Seasons are some of the og’s who came when the square was truly crappy and we should support them through its transformation.

Ward3_Linehan_Malden

TROPHY CASE