On March 18th 2026, Maldonians gathered at the Teen/Senior center in Malden to watch the annual State of the City. The State of City is an event hosted every year where local officials discuss the condition their city is in, whether it is financially or recreationally. Speakers like Mayors, City Councilors, and Superintendents are among the most common at the events.
As Malden residents came pouring in, they were greeted and checked in by MTEC (Malden Teen Enrichment Center) employees. Stepping into the room, the environment welcomed Malden residents with food, music, and a hand shake with Malden’s superintendent, Dr. Timothy Sippel.
Among the invited parties was Love4kids, a Malden High School club. Members volunteer with kids of all ages and more importantly have a partnership with Malden Reads every Wednesday in the school library for a Mini Writers Den with K-8 students. They were recognized as community partners by various speakers throughout the event.
“The environment was really nice. It was very formal. I felt as if I was part of the city and I felt like it was really a community based environment. We were all appreciating in different ways like for example Malden Reads and Love for Kids was definitely seen as a community-based organization so I was really grateful for that kind of environment,” Senior President of Love4kids Eldana Abrhame expressed.
“The environment was very professional, and I thought that it was really interesting to be in an environment like that. And it allowed me to understand how to interact in places like that from a young age,” Freshmen Edom Abrhame, who also attended representing Love4kids, stated.
After the reception, Mayor Gary Christenson took to the stage and began to thank residents for attending and recognized elected city officials like City Councilor Peg Crowe, City Council President Amanda Linehan, City Councilor Ryan O’Malley, and his family for being there to support him.
It was pointed out that it’s no secret that Malden’s budget is “under unprecedented pressure,” as the Mayor voiced, which puts a strain on Malden residents. The Mayor spoke about Prop 2 ½ which would raise property taxes on business owners. Malden residents will voted on this proposition on March 31st at all the K-8 schools. This was the first time in Malden’s history that a tax override was set on a ballot for the community to vote on.
“I think that the mayor is doing the best for his city and he’s just trying to balance everything out,” emphasized Freshman Meklit Daniel, who also represents Love4kids.
Senior Nour Howard recalled that she noticed signs saying “No Tax Override” in front of many houses on her way home from school.
Despite the efforts to fix Malden’s budget, it was also mentioned how the city is trying to make Malden more affordable. Malden residents have benefited from a tax exemption which lowered their property taxes and a community electricity initiative that saved residents a combined 1.5 million dollars.
Towards the end of the Mayor’s speech, he highlighted new projects to come such as a new 144 bed hospital, a $500,000 grant from MassDOT for road safety, and a $850,000 grant for repairs on the Malden Public Schools roofs.
What grabbed the most attention was when it was announced that Malden Police will not enforce federal laws in light of the ICE activity around the state. He called attention to the large immigrant population in Malden and how trust is important in a community like Malden’s.
Next, City Clerk Carol Ann Desiderio was brought up to speak and began with appreciating the women who work with her in the clerk’s office. Recently the clerk’s office started to “chase down” and preserve some of Malden’s oldest documents and digitizing them, Desiderio stated.
Daniel, representing Love4kids, thought that this action showed how much Desiderio really “cares and appreciates” her job.
It was also highlighted that when the 2025 government shutdown happened and people were having a hard time, the clerk’s office coordinated a food drive where residents who came to vote could bring one food item and by the end of the voting period there was a total of 600 pounds of food donated.
After Desiderio exited the stage, the Mayor brought up Eric Rubin, who is the public facilities director. A main point he brought was that Malden obtained $1.4 million in grants that was used throughout the city to execute upgrades upon different facilities and buildings.
Towards the end of Rubin’s segment, he highlighted a major change at Malden High Schoo:l Malden received a grant that allowed for the installation of solar thermal panels on the roof that will heat the swimming pool all year long.
As Rubin walked off the stage, the attendees eagerly waited for the next speaker, but what happened next was a little different. As people were looking around, Mark Linehan, with a microphone in hand began his address from the other side of the room.
Linehan had already pointed out that his job that night was to highlight community partners. He began with interviewing Jodie Zalk from Malden Reads, who then shouted out Love4Kids senior co-presidents Abrhame and Sophia Chan. They all received applause from the crowd.
Linehan then moved onto interviewing Marcel Schwad about the successful farmers markets that took place last year.
Daniel thought that it is a very good idea to help others get their stuff out in the wild and was “shocked” that it was as successful.
“By the end of the season we reached about 500 attendees and 19 vendors,” Schwab announced. Linehan eagerly made sure to establish that there were 500 attendees per week for 13 weeks.
City Council President Amanda Linehan, City Solicitor Alicia Mcneil, and Director of Strategic Planning and Community Development Alex Pratt, were some of the final speakers of the night. After their moments came Dr. Timothy Sippel’s address about the Malden Public Schools.
He first began with honoring all of the school committee members, teachers, and alumni who had come to the State of the City. The superintendent also mentioned that one way he appreciates Malden is by finding a restaurant every Friday afternoon to eat with his wife.
“It’s just a lovely community and we are so delighted to be here,” Sippel expressed.
Sippel wanted to first establish all of the core values and goals at the district. He mentioned that in his first year he really wanted to make connections with students, teachers, and families. Sippel made a goal with the district to visit every single classroom and he ended up coming to over 400 classrooms in his first year as superintendent.
Freshman Abrhame remembered seeing Sippel around the Linden STEAM Academy “all the time” last year.
Sippel also announced that in his tenure he wanted to ensure that all students had access to the same opportunities and programs. Now, all middle school students at the Malden Public Schools have the opportunity to participate in the Nature’s Classroom overnight field trip camping program.
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, many actions were taken to make things easier for parents and students. Sippel said he listened to the feedback from parents as he entered his new position as the district with the help of the tech department remodeled the outdated Malden Public Schools website and made it easier to navigate.
Sippel also spoke about the introduction of ParentSquare and StudentSquare in the summer. These platforms were included as part of Sippels remodeling for parent and student outreach resources.
Towards the end of his speech, the crowd applauded heavily when Sippel announced that this was the first school year that schools were able to start fully staffed. He highlighted that schools function the best and most properly when they have enough staff to make that happen.
As for attending The State of the City, Daniel stated, “I would definitely go again as someone who wants to be more connected to the community. I also recommend it to others who want to stay tuned with all the things that are going on in the city. You definitely shouldn’t let being a child stop you from getting into these situations, even if you feel a bit threatened by being in a serious room full of adults.”
Finally, Sippel signed off saying that they are not done. There will be more development in Malden Public Schools in order to benefit the education and wellbeing of the students and families in Malden.
The Mayor was brought back up and thanked guests for coming, and then residents everyone left the Teen/Senior center for the night knowing what was going on in their city.
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