Staff Report
The past year saw the city of Chelsea facing challenges and triumphs on both the local and national stages. Federal immigration policies placed hardship and strain on many Chelsea residents. As a sanctuary city, Chelsea follows the law and our police do not enforce federal immigration policies, according to city administration officials. In response to those federal policies, Chelsea and Somerville filed a federal lawsuit in 2025 challenging coerced participation in mass deportations. City leaders also created resident resources and reaffirmed its commitment to protecting all residents regardless of immigration status. “Chelsea will not be bullied or intimidated into enforcing federal immigration laws, and we will not allow federal policies to dictate how we care for people that call Chelsea home,” said Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez when the lawsuit was filed last spring. “We stand firm—alongside our neighbors in Somerville and our partners at Lawyers for Civil Rights—in defending the rights and dignity of our immigrant communities. Chelsea is a city built by immigrants, sustained by their contributions, and strengthened by our shared values of inclusion, justice, and resilience. We will continue to protect and serve every resident, regardless of their immigration status.” One of the major triumphs for the city in 2025 was its selection as an All-America City at an awards ceremony in Denver. It was the third time the city has been honored in the past three decades. “This win is special,” said Maltez at the awards ceremony. “At a time when low-income and immigrant communities across the nation are under attack, we stand before you proudly to say: Chelsea is strong, Chelsea is united and Chelsea is an All-America City in 2025.” The spirit of the Chelsea 400 celebrations that took place in 2024 carried into 2025. Specifically, Chelsea and East Boston collaborated on a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Chelsea Creek. The Battle of Chelsea Creek is an often-overlooked chapter in the nation’s history, and in collaboration with East Boston and partner organizations, the city presented an exciting weekend of cultural programming, including the docking of a historic 1894 schooner, the SSV Ernestina-Morrissey, for the general public to board. The city council and the city’s zoning and planning boards were busy in 2025, with a lot of focus on a proposed food and fish processing facility that was proposed for the former Signature Breads facility on Justin Drive. Proponents of the facility from Boston Provisions said it would bring jobs to Chelsea, and that it would be a clean, state-of-the-art facility. Many residents from the Admirals Hill neighborhood opposed the project, raising concerns about fish odor, traffic, and safety. Despite a positive recommendation from the planning board in September, the zoning board of appeals denied issuing the special permits necessary for the project to move forward. The debate over the facility continued throughout the fall as the city council and zoning and planning boards debated a proposed zoning amendment that would further limit where fish processing facilities could operate in Chelsea. Phase I of the city’s Downtown Broadway construction project was completed this fall, although the project created hardship for a number of local businesses in the downtown business corridor. District 7 City Councilor Manuel Teshe was among city leaders who called for additional resources for the businesses impacted by the construction. In 2027, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will launch Phase II of the Downtown Broadway Project. During this phase, MassDOT will beautify the corridor with a brand new roadway, sidewalks, and public open space, as well as install new traffic signals and pedestrian safety improvements, according to Maltez. “Broadway is the heart of our City, and it has not seen significant investment since 1973,” said Maltez. “We cannot wait to celebrate a ribbon cutting on Broadway with fully replaced sidewalks, traffic signals, and a new roadway.” While Broadway was under the microscope in 2025, there was also continued work on a longer-term vision for the city with the Chelsea Pa’Lante, Chelsea Onward comprehensive master planning process. “Earlier this year, we commenced Phase I: Learning and Listening,” said Maltez. “We are now actively transitioning into Phase II: Visioning and Testing.” Thus far, the plan has identified that the city needs to address crisis response and stabilization, while working on long-term prosperity for everyone, Maltez stated. “These include ensuring our families can stay by producing and preserving affordable housing; fostering conditions where our business owners prosper; supporting local enterprises and cultivating industry; strengthening our community networks; cultivating safe neighborhoods; and many more,” said Maltez. The past year also saw the beginning stages of a major project in Prattville with a private developer working with the Chelsea Housing Authority. In the spring, the Chelsea Housing Authority Board of Commissioners designated the Joseph J. Corcoran and the John M. Corcoran companies as the redevelopment partners with the CHA for the 13 acres of its Fitzpatrick and Prattville site. The Corcoran companies are the CHA partners for the ongoing Innes/Central Avenue redevelopment. The project is still in the early stages, but CHA Executive Director Paul Nowicki, Corcoran partners, and City Manager Fidel Maltez said the project will include brand new housing units for all 198 families currently housed on the two sites, as well as a mix of affordable- and market-rate residential units on the parcel. All the occupants of the current units will be offered temporary housing while the work is ongoing, and will be able to return to the new units once they are completed. There was also a continued emphasis on the development and improvement of parks and green spaces in Chelsea in 2025. One of the latest examples of that work was the receipt of a Community Development Block Grant to help fund improvements to Voke Park. “We will be designing an accessible playground area, so this is for a smaller portion of Voke Park where the tot lot exists today,” said Housing and Community Development Director Ben Cares. “We will be improving that for residents who have accessibility needs, but it won’t be exclusively for accessibility needs. It will be open for everybody, it will just have accessible features which means that it can accommodate people who need ADA accessibility, that might be differently-abled, that might have mobility issues – this park will be accessible for those residents and for all other residents.” The project will be in the design phase for much of the winter and spring, with the potential to go out to bid next summer with the project wrapping up prior to the end of 2026, Cares said. It was a fairly quiet election season for the city council in 2025. The majority of incumbents who ran for reelection were victorious. The lone race that saw a challenger top the incumbent on the ballot was the District 2 city council race, where Deron Hines topped Melinda Vega by a tally of 206-147 votes. Hines has said his campaign was focused on connecting Chelsea residents with City Hall and informing them of the decision making that impacts their daily lives through government transparency, youth mentorship, and housing protections. The Class of 2025 held its graduation ceremony in the spring with 436 students from Chelsea High School, the Chelsea Opportunity Academy, and the Virtual Learning Academy. In other school news, the school committee extended Superintendent of Schools Dr. Almi Abeyta’s contract for another five years. “I am deeply honored to continue serving the Chelsea community,” said Dr. Abeyta. “Our students are talented, resilient, and full of potential. I look forward to building on the progress we’ve made together and continuing the work of ensuring we know every student by name, strength and story.” The school administration and the school committee continued to focus on the positive achievements of its staff and students throughout the year, as evidenced by the school committee’s monthly Name, Strength, and Story awards. City councilors continued to push for a community center and a new fire station, among other initiatives in 2025. In response to a large number of fires in 2024, the fire chief introduced Engine 4 into the normal rotation operating out of the Central Fire Station earlier in 2025. “Having a fourth engine gives the fire department the ability to respond to several incidents, and attack fires from multiple angles,” said Maltez. “Engine 4 has had an immediate impact on our operations by improving our ability to distribute workload, work towards reducing response times, and provide more consistent coverage across the city. By implementing this additional engine, it puts us in a better position to meet the expected increase in call volume as the city continues to grow and develop.” Maltez stated that the city is also continuing efforts to find a home for an all-ages community center. In addition, he said plans are underway to partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Boston to bring a teen center to Broadway. Chelsea also signed on to join Winthrop and Revere as the third member of the Metro North Regional Emergency Communications Center (MNRECC). The addition of Chelsea helped move forward plans for a new regional dispatch center at the McKinley School in Revere. The McKinley School project is currently in the design phase, with an anticipated completion date of 2027.