Special to the Record
City Manager Fidel Maltez has placed an emphasis on communicating with residents since he took office last year. Earlier this week, Maltez recorded the latest in his series of public outreach videos to air on Chelsea Community TV. The text of his latest video, which focuses on ¡Chelsea Pa’Lante is below:
Hello Residents of Chelsea, Welcome to Our Community! My name is Fidel Maltez, and it is my honor to serve as your City Manager. Today I would like to speak with you about the importance of our community-driven Comprehensive Master Plan: ¡Chelsea Pa’Lante, Chelsea Onward!.
First, let us address the elephant in the room. WHAT is ¡Chelsea Pa’Lante, Chelsea Onward!, exactly? This will be the City’s first Comprehensive Master Plan since 1970.
That’s right: it has been more than 50 years since the City developed a master plan intended to guide Chelsea’s growth, development, and overall future. Think about that for a moment. The last time Chelsea created a plan like this was before the Great Fire of 1973. Before receivership. It was during a time when our population was shrinking and the city faced incredible challenges.
Today, we are a very different Chelsea. We are growing. We are resilient. We are proud. And we are one of the most diverse communities in Massachusetts. At this moment, the possibilities ahead of us are bigger and brighter than ever before. That is why we are doing this now. We recognize the City needs to hear from our residents, businesses, and other stakeholders about what is needed to keep Chelsea thriving and moving forward, Pa’Lante. That’s why we are collecting community input to develop this plan.
While Chelsea Pa’Lante, Chelsea Onward! will be a physical document, it will also be thought of as a roadmap for how we want to grow together, what we prioritize, and how we make decisions that reflect our values and our vision. It’s a plan we are creating together with all of you. The plan will serve as a guide for how we make major decisions around key areas including housing, economic development, land-use plans, and more.
You may be wondering, “Why does this matter? How will this benefit me? What will it change?”
Well, for the last few decades, the City has tackled challenges one at a time, project by project. While the City has made great improvements, we need to have a shared, community-centered, unifying vision to guide us.
Chelsea Pa’Lante, Chelsea Onward! will change that. It will give us a shared direction, an agreed-upon path that connects all your ideas with our efforts and investments. It will help us define Chelsea’s values, set a bold, but practical, shared vision for Chelsea’s future, and create a framework to implement our goals in an equitable and coordinated way.
With all that said – it’s extremely important that I make you aware that his plan will not rewrite zoning laws overnight. It won’t tell us exactly how every dollar will be spent or redesign every street. But it will give us the foundation, the recommendations, and the tools to make those decisions faster—and better, for all of us.
And it’s already working. Since March, our planning team, led by the local firm Utile, has been talking and engaging with many of you, more than 1,200 residents to be exact, through surveys, events, and community conversations. You have told us what makes Chelsea special, and where we need to improve. You have said you love our close-knit neighborhoods, our diversity, our walkability, and our community spirit.
But you’ve also raised real concerns, about housing affordability, safety, environmental justice, and the need for more economic opportunity, for all of us. These priorities are shaping the plan. They’re not being decided behind closed doors, they’re being voiced by you and incorporated into the plan every step of the way.
So what comes next? We will begin exploring future scenarios, like, what it would take to achieve our shared goal? And what trade-offs do we may need to make together? From there, we’ll come back to you with options, visuals, and ideas. And ultimately, the final plan will go to the Planning Board, grounded in your input.
Chelsea, this is our opportunity to dream big, plan wisely, and move forward together. We call this plan ¡Chelsea Pa’Lante, Chelsea Onward! because it reflects our identity—rooted in community, resilience, and the desire to build something better for everyone.
Let’s make sure every voice is heard in this process. Let’s make sure every corner and every neighborhood of Chelsea sees ourselves in this plan. Because the future of Chelsea doesn’t belong to just one department, one neighborhood, or one administration, it belongs to all of us.
And finally, the City of Chelsea is working to make our streets safer for everyone. This requires an All Of City effort, including learning from residents how unsafe streets impact our lives and where you would like to see improvements, whether walking, driving, or using transit. We believe in a future of zero traffic deaths and eliminating serious crashes, but we need your help. We encourage residents to complete an online survey at chelseama.gov or call Chelsea 311 to learn more.
Thank you for believing in our community. Thank you for being part of it. CHELSEA !PA’LANTE!
See you next time on Our Community. Thank you and May god bless the City of Chelsea.