Yes for Malden campaign: ‘No one’s coming to save us’

By Lorna Garey

A new grassroots initiative backed by residents, union members and city officials is making the case for a Proposition 2 ½ override. The recently formed Yes for Malden ballot question committee is mobilizing ahead of the special election scheduled for March 31, and it’s unabashed about enjoying vocal support from elected leaders. In fact, Ward 2 Councilor Paul Condon is featured on the group’s website, and Councilor-at-Large Carey McDonald joined Rachael Running, an organizer with the Greater Boston Labor Council, to brief Neighborhood View on the initiative.

Both are part of the planning committee, and other councilors have publicly expressed support. In Massachusetts, elected officials who are not also public employees can donate to, fundraise for and work on behalf of ballot question committees with few restrictions, per the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Public employees may not serve as treasurers for these committees and need to observe other rules about fundraising and use of public resources.

McDonald drew a line between support for Yes for Malden and why they serve on the Council and in other roles.

“I ran for office because I want to make this a great place to raise my kids — I want this to be a great place for every family to raise their kids, to grow old, to build a career,” said McDonald. “I support this override because I think it’s the right thing to do for the city. I think it’s a reasonable ask, I think it’s needed, and I think the alternatives are so much worse.”

Both the Yes for Malden and the Keep Malden Affordable committees have filed incorporation and fundraising forms with the city as required by law. Neighborhood View reached out to the group opposing the override with both a list of written questions and several requests for an interview but received no response by our Feb. 7 deadline.

Committee vital stats

Yes for Malden 

• Website: https://www.yesformalden.org/
• Officers: The only listed officer is treasurer Caitlin Peale Sloan
• Supporters: The committee raised $1,520 in 2025, according to its January CFP 102 filing. Mayor Gary Christenson’s election committee donated $1,500 and Sloan donated $20. 

Keep Malden Affordable 

• Website: https://keepmaldenaffordable.nationbuilder.com/
• Officers: The only listed officer is treasurer William Spadafora Jr.
• Supporters: The committee raised $2,120 in 2025, according to its January CFP 102 filing. United Properties donated $1,000, Bruce Friedman donated $500, former Councilor at Large Craig Spadafora donated $250, and William Spadafora Jr. and Elizabeth Novak each donated $100.

New faces, new energy

The central premise of the Yes for Malden campaign is that the city faces a structural revenue problem caused by inflation outpacing allowed tax increases, complex state mandates and less state and federal money.

“There’s no one coming to save us from this reality,” McDonald said. “We’re getting really minimum funding increases from the state this year, and so that means that it’s really up to us as the people in this community about what’s the future we want to have for Malden.”

Acknowledging the need for long-term economic development, they framed the override as a bridge to a stronger financial future versus gutting city services and eliminating roles that would be difficult and expensive to build back up.

The community is listening, judging by response to the campaign. Even before the website was launched, “dozens and dozens” of people signed up to volunteer using a Google form that was circulated on social media, said Running.

“Folks really kind of almost came out of the woodwork,” she said. “We did one of our first volunteer trainings recently, and there was so much active engagement, and not just folks saying, ‘Okay, what do you want me to do?’”

Rather, she said, community members brought new ideas to the table. 

“As we get more public, that capacity is going to just kind of exponentially grow,” she said. “I’ve been really inspired by it.”

People and public service

The Yes for Malden website zeroes in on the consequences of a failed override vote, which the city estimates would result in the elimination of 50 to 60 positions. 

Running emphasized the personal toll on municipal workers, noting that many are also city residents.

“These are human people here, faces, families,” Running said. “The person sitting on the fire truck next to you, responding to a call, and the person who’s co-teaching in the classroom or shoveling out next to you.”

And in fact, Running said she’s seeing resounding support among municipal unions in Malden, driven by the fact that members understand the human impact of the potential layoffs.

Addressing objections

While a residential exemption offset will buffer much of the increase for homeowners, one focus for the committee is addressing the cost of living for Malden’s large renter population. McDonald disputed the argument that landlords will automatically pass a tax increase to tenants, saying that rental prices are dictated by broader economic forces. 

“The reality is that rents are what the market will bear,” McDonald said, adding that neighboring communities that have passed overrides have not seen concurrent increases. Moreover, many renters would someday like to be Malden homeowners and have children in the schools, said Running, and so are invested in maintaining services.

“We are reaching out specifically to a lot of the school families,” she said. “There’s a lot of overlap. People carry a lot of identities, as you know, to any given place and time.” 

The group is also addressing other key areas, including:

• Calls for an audit: McDonald said that the city already undergoes a required annual outside financial audit that verifies that financial rules are being followed, and these are posted online. What many residents want is a judgment-based analysis of spending choices, more commonly called a management review. The Council has expressed openness to such outside analysis.

• Spending cuts: Cost-saving measures already implemented include restructuring pension payments, investing in energy efficiency to lower utility bills, updating fee schedules, implementing a hiring freeze and opting the city into the state’s health insurance system. While voters can expect more detailed information, McDonald said cuts would be concentrated in city services rather than the school budget, with public health, public safety, the library and the Department of Public Works (DPW) facing cuts.

• Revenue boosts: While acknowledging that robust economic development is the ultimate solution for a sustainable budget, McDonald argued that even if needed zoning changes happen immediately, it takes years to permit and construct new tax-generating properties. In addition, gutting city services now would make it more difficult to achieve economic development later, as a decline in quality of life and safety would make Malden less attractive to investors and new residents.

McDonald also called out a major expansion of grant funding.

“We have an amazing sustainability and grants manager, so we’ve used that to offset costs where that’s appropriate and where we can,” they said.

Risk of confusion over a tiered approach

Running and McDonald addressed the city’s strategy of presenting two separate ballot questions on March 31, featuring different funding levels, $5.4 million and $8.2 million. Voters can vote “Yes” or “No” on each independently.

At the $5.4 million level, the city would need to make an estimated $2 million in reductions, likely resulting in the loss of 10 to 20 positions.

The higher $8.2 million tier includes funding from the first tier plus the additional spending required for school investments to meet the city’s obligation to fund education mandates without stripping resources from other departments.

McDonald clarified the mechanics of the vote to ensure residents understand it is not a ranked-choice system:

• The questions are separate. 
• If both questions fail, the city faces the maximum projected cuts of 50 to 60 positions.
• If both questions pass, the higher amount prevails. The taxes do not stack; the $8.2 million figure would take effect.

The decision to use a tiered ballot was influenced by similar strategies in neighboring communities like Melrose, which had three tiers, and Stoneham. It allows residents to decide if they want to simply mitigate the damage (Tier 1) or try to get the city “back to baseline” (Tier 2).

“Some people are just going to be opposed to any tax cut forever — that’s a choice,” said Running. “But when you really peel back the layers … I think more working class communities are coming to the conclusion that this is something that folks want to have a choice on.”

Ultimately, McDonald and Running framed the override vote as an exercise in self-determination and said the Yes for Malden ballot question committee’s goal is to get facts out to the community.

“Voters deserve some honest takes so they can make up their minds about what future they want,” said McDonald. 

For voters seeking more information, the city is holding community forums. Residents can also visit the Yes for Malden website and the city’s informational pages.