Ever wish you could help bring about positive progress in Malden? How are decisions made? What is the City Council playbook? What is the goal of citywide Committees and Commissions?  What are the frameworks, ordinances and City Charter? How do Malden's state representatives interact with the city? What are the pathways to accountability for investments and outcomes? What role and responsibility does the public have in helping to chart the course for the City?

The detailed story of cannabis over the past five years shares an important story. Please tell us if we missed significant events. We plan to update this in the future.

A HISTORY OF CANNABIS IN MALDEN

Malden's support for legalization of Marijuana was voted by ballot question at the presidential election on November 8, 2016. We wanted to take a look back on what happened since then.

This expansive timeline recaps many of the community players involved and highlights key decisions made along the way. This historical reconstruction is based on years of observation with input from residents knowledgeable about what has transpired since that vote on 11/8/16.

Let’s begin with some background on the Malden-based characters involved.

CITY COUNCILLORS PAST AND PRESENT

Neil Kinnon and David D’Arcangelo: Openly anti cannabis. Kinnon resigned from the City Council in 2017 (subsequently applying for a job in the city, for which he was not chosen.) D’Arcangelo was voted out by the people of Malden in 2017, replaced by Steve Winslow.

Craig Spadafora and John Matheson: Say they are pro cannabis, but their actions and legislation are strongly anti cannabis. Spadafora is an alcohol retailer whose family has real estate and business interests in Malden. John Matheson’s motivations are unclear, but he retired from the City Council in 2019 in a failed bid for Mayor, and was replaced by Amanda Linehan in Ward 3.

Ryan O’Malley, Steve Winslow, Debbie DeMaria, David Camell and Amanda Linehan: In favor of reasonable cannabis.

Jadeane Sica: Was in favor of reasonable cannabis, and Benevolent Botanicals’ application in particular as a Malden-owned business co-founded by a woman, from 2017-2021, then suddenly changed her mind.

Barbara Murphy: Somewhat anti cannabis, but not proposing any new legislation restricting it.

Peg Crowe and Neal Anderson: Neutral on cannabis.

OTHER MALDEN CHARACTERS

Mayor Gary Christenson: In favor of reasonable cannabis

Malden lawyers Jenelle DeVits and Shaleen Title: In favor of reasonable cannabis. Jenelle also became a member of Malden’s CLEC in 2018, Shaleen also became state Cannabis Commissioner in 2018.

Citizen journalists Prisco Tammaro and Mike Crawford: In favor of reasonable cannabis.

Malden Reads president Diana Jeong: Neutral on cannabis in general, pro social equity and diversity in cannabis. Diana is now a member of Malden’s CLEC.

Cannabis company Benevolent Botanicals: The only cannabis license applicants who are Malden residents, out of 15 total applicants.

Warren Lynch: Citizen journalist at first, later the co-founder of Benevolent Botanicals with fellow citizen journalist and filmmaker Stee McMorris.

THE TIMELINE

• 2015: City Councillor John Matheson proposes a 2-year moratorium on cannabis (later ruled illegal if applied to recreational cannabis). Moratorium passes.
• 2016: Malden votes to legalize recreational cannabis.
• 2016: Mayor Gary Christenson rules that cannabis shop applicants may apply in Industrial 1 and 2 zones, as long as they pass the state CCC (Cannabis Control Commission) process, once the moratorium ends and the CCC is fully formed.
• 2017: City Councillor Neil Kinnon proposes a citywide ban on all cannabis businesses until it is federally legal. This ban passes the Ordinance Committee (of which Craig Spadafora is Chair) 4-1, but upon reaching the full Council, is found to be illegal, and voted down 7-4.
• 2017: City Councillor Ryan O’Malley suggests expanding the zone for cannabis to include Highway Business zoning. It passes.
• 2017: John Matheson proposes the Marijuana Establishment Overlay zone; It passes.
• 2017: City Councillor Craig Spadafora proposes a 1500 foot buffer zone around all residences, schools, parks, playgrounds and religious facilities, with no cannabis shops allowed in that buffer zone, which he says “The Board of Health” told him to do.^[1] Ryan O’Malley contends this would zone out all cannabis. Spadafora says things along the lines of “We’re not allowed to ban it, let’s zone it out. You don’t want it in your Ward do you?” Ryan says “Yes I do, my constituents voted for it overwhelmingly.”
• 2017: Malden lawyer Jenelle DeVits appears and says that since Malden voted for cannabis, state law says you can’t legally “zone it out” just like you can’t ban it, without a ballot initiative.^[2]
• 2017: John Matheson proposes extending the moratorium. Jenelle DeVits points out that is also illegal without a ballot initiative, and technically the previous moratorium was partially illegal too.
• 2017: Anti cannabis City Councillor David D’Arcangelo is voted out of office and replaced by moderately pro cannabis Steve Winslow. Anti cannabis City Councillor Neil Kinnon steps down and is replaced by pro cannabis David Camell.
• 2018: City Councillor Debbie DeMaria becomes Council President by tradition (as the next most senior sitting Councillor who has never served as President before), with a clear pro-cannabis mandate from the voters. DeMaria establishes an Ad Hoc Cannabis Committee to determine the state legality of the buffer zones, and what an appropriate buffer zone, if any, would be, to match state guidelines.
• 2018: Debbie DeMaria appoints Ryan O’Malley to be Chair of Ordinance committee.
• 2018: Ad Hoc Cannabis Committee members include Malden citizen journalist Prisco Tamarro, City Councillor Peg Crowe, Malden lawyer Shaleen Title (who later became Massachusetts Cannabis Commissioner), attorney Ryan Moore and others. They determine that a 50 foot buffer zone would be the maximum without violating the state’s requirement not to be “unreasonably impracticable”.
• 2018: Craig Spadafora proposes limiting licenses to 1 or 2; ruled illegal by state law without a ballot initiative.
• 2018: Craig Spadafora promises limiting licenses to 4; it passes.
• 2018: Ryan O’Malley, Debbie DeMaria, several others on the Council, and several Malden citizens are able to convince the Council to reduce the buffer zones from 1500 feet to 250 feet.
• 2018: Jenelle DeVits, Shaleen Title and others point out this is still more than the maximum of 50 feet. Craig Spadafora says “we shouldn’t be deciding this, let’s let Joint Planning and Ordinance decide”. Spadafora is, himself, on Ordinance committee, and John Matheson is Vice Chair of Ordinance. The Council votes yes, apparently to be done with the controversy.
• 2018: Benevolent Botanicals begins looking at locations. They look at over 150 properties, finding none outside a 250, 150 or even 75 foot buffer zone which are in any way affordable.
• 2018: Prisco Tamarro and Warren Lynch both make maps to try to show this lack of actual locations with the buffer zones in place, and share them with the Building Commission and City Planner
• 2018: Strongly influenced by Craig Spadafora and John Matheson, Joint Planning and Ordinance recommends 150 feet for the buffer zone.
• 2018: Benevolent Botanicals co-founder Warren Lynch and his sister Rachael Lynch show the maps to City Councillor Jadeane Sica
• 2018: Jadeane Sica, seemingly neutral before that, comes out in favor of smaller buffer zones. She explains to Councillors Barbara Murphy and Craig Spadafora about the state-illegality again, shows them the maps again and offers to have the Marijauna Establishment Overlay in her own Ward.
• 2018: Craig Spadafora changes his public position from being against cannabis to being allegedly in favor of getting the most money for the city.
• 2018: Craig Spadafora proposes making cannabis shops have 200 parking spaces (more than the Stop and Shop?); it fails without even getting out of Ordinance committee.
• 2018: John Matheson and Craig Spadafora propose putting the Liquor Board in charge of cannabis licensing; Former Mayor Conway, chair of the Liquor Board, as one of his last political acts before passing away at the age of 90, says that everyone should know that he cannot, as an alcohol official, also legislate over cannabis, calling it an obvious conflict of interest, and saying that Craig Spadafora knows that. Lee Kinnon, brother of Neil Kinnon and also on the Liquor Board, says that he does not approve of cannabis, and would not like to be approving cannabis licenses. The issue is thrown out.
• 2018: Craig Spadafora suddenly shows up^[3] with an entire book of new cannabis regulations he has written, including parking rules, Primary Use restrictions, dimensional controls, land area restrictions, the formation of Malden’s CLEC (Cannabis Licensing and Enforcement Commission), Special Permit requirements and other things. It all passes.
• 2018: John Matheson proposes that the Police Chief, Building Commissioner and Fire Chief be automatic Ex Officio members of the CLEC board. It passes.
• 2018: Debbie DeMaria proposes a change to CLEC so that the Fire Chief is not automatically on it, and Jenelle DeVits (appointed by the Council) and Diana Jeong (appointed by the Mayor) are on it instead. That passes.
• 2018: The Joint Planning & Ordinance decision comes back to the Council. Ryan O’Malley and Jenelle DeVits point out 150 is still more than 50 feet. Craig Spadafora argues that the Ad Hoc commission isn’t valid because it has Ad Hoc in the name. And argues that applicants “can just get a variance.” Council agrees to a compromise of 75 feet, even though without variances this still invalidates almost all the parcels in Malden. Because applicants can just get variances! You can see video clips of Craig Spadafora and Jadeane Sica saying that cannabis applicants can just get variances here and here!
• 2018: Neil Kinnon proposes an additional buffer zone for the bike path. He’s not a Councillor anymore, and it fails.^[4]
• 2019: Jadeane Sica becomes City Council President by tradition
• 2019: Jadeane Sica appoints Craig Spadafora to be Chair of Ordinance committee.
• 2019: CLEC begins the first round of applications. 12 candidates apply, 10 of which would need variances.
• 2019: Benevolent Botanicals, having confirmed that variances are possible, finally secures a willing landlord and location, one with the smallest needed variance possible out of all the 150 properties they looked at: 926 Eastern Ave. They begin paying rent at that location.
• 2019: By collaborative suggestion of Jadeane Sica and Steve Winslow, daycares and rehabs are added to the buffer zones; the Marijuana Establishment Overlay, which once canceled out all buffer zones except the one around schools, is changed to only cancel the residential buffer zone; and one license is reserved for a Malden resident or Economic Empowerment candidate.
• 2019: The cap of licenses at four is found to be illegal by state law^[5] in a “Yes community” that voted for recreational cannabis like Malden did, the minimum is five as it’s a minimum of 20% of the liquor licenses in the city or town. Craig Spadafora immediately proposes a cap at five, and it passes.
• 2019: CLEC passes four candidates, two which are in buffer zones (Mass Medicum and Craft Cultivation Group) and would need variances, and two which would not (Standard Naturals and Misty Mountain Shop).
• 2019: Anti cannabis John Matheson runs for Mayor, fails to win the Mayor race, and his City Council seat is won by pro reasonable cannabis candidate Amanda Linehan.
• 2019: Two of the licenses CLEC passed, with properties which would have required variances, drop out of the process before they get to the Zoning Board
• 2020: Ryan O’Malley, next in line for City Council President by tradition, runs for that office. Craig Spadafora insists that O'Malley should not be allowed as Council President, and that the Council should break with tradition because O'Malley is “too controversial.” Jadeane Sica is elected Council President, for a second term, instead.
• 2020: Jadeane Sica appoints Craig Spadafora to be Chair of Ordinance committee again.
• 2020: Craig Spadafora proposes another illegal moratorium on cannabis licenses. It gets changed to a non-binding resolution “without teeth”, which passes only 6-5.
• 2020: CLEC recommends that the 1 license reserved for a Malden resident or an Economic Empowerment candidate be expanded to also allow a Social Equity Participant or Minority Owned Business. The issue is sent to Ordinance committee, of which Craig Spadafora is once again Chair. As Chair of Ordinance, Craig Spadafora uses his authority to delay the issue being discussed for a full year.
• 2020: Journalist Mike Crawford catches Craig Spadafora in the act of trying to sell Crawford an open bar, revealing himself as an alcohol retailer.^[6] Alcohol is recognized as a direct competitor with cannabis. Craig Spadafora continues to legislate over cannabis, without any Conflict of Interest Disclosures.
• 2020: CLEC accepts a second round of licenses despite the non-binding resolution, ruling that they have to do so, by state law.
• 2020: Benevolent Botanicals applies for a license at 926 Eastern Ave.
• 2021: Ryan O’Malley, still next in line for City Council President by tradition, runs for that office again. Craig Spadafora insists he is “too controversial” again, and Neal Anderson is elected Council President instead, his fourth time in that role over the years.
• 2021: Neal Anderson appoints Craig Spadafora to be Chair of Ordinance again; Spadafora’s third year in a row as Chair.
• 2021: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts rules that meetings where the Malden City Council President is elected must be held in public and properly noticed, and finds the meeting which elected the 2021 Council President to have violated Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.
• 2021: Benevolent Botanicals’ license comes up for review by CLEC; they are passed provisionally 5-0 if they can increase their proven funds from $100,000 to $2,000,000 in 90 days. In that meeting, they are publicly complimented by the Chief of Police, Building Commissioner and other CLEC commissioners for the building selection.
• 2021: Another license, DMS Trinity, passes CLEC.
• 2021: Ordinance Chair Craig Spadafora (finally) allows expanding the reserved license to allow a Social Equity Participant or Minority Owned Business, right after DMS Trinity, a Social Equity Participant, has already been passed by CLEC, but while Benevolent Botanicals is still being considered.The change passes.
• 2021: Ryan O’Malley, concerned this will discourage further Social Equity, Minority Owned and Malden resident companies from applying, proposes changing the phrase in the Ordinance where a license is reserved for a Malden resident owned, Minority Owned, or Social Equity Participant owned business from “1 license” to read “1 or more licenses”. The change passes.
• 2021: Benevolent Botanicals hires lawyers, architects, and MEP^[7] planners to prove the financial model as required by CLEC, then raises and shows evidence of the secured funds;
• 2021: Benevolent Botanicals co-founder Warren Lynch is certified by the state as a Social Equity Participant, as well as being an 11 year Malden resident.
• 2021: CLEC meets with, and passes, Benevolent Botanicals 5-0, with the understanding that “You will need a variance from the ZBA to proceed further”
• 2021: Benevolent Botanicals applies for a variance
• 2022: Ryan O’Malley gives up on running for Council President after being blocked by Craig Spadafora twice already. Steve Winslow, second in line by tradition behind Ryan, runs instead. Craig Spadafora insists that Winslow is also “too controversial”, and runs for the office himself.
• 2022: Craig Spadafora wins 6-5 in a meeting in which he appears to be in charge of who can and cannot speak, and shouts down Councilor O’Malley during the meeting where the vote is held. (video here)
• 2022: Craig Spadafora becomes City Council President
• 2022: The public hearing for the variance sought by Benevolent Botanicals is held.

• Over 50 citizens speak in support of Benevolent Botanicals being granted the variance, including three City Councillors, two near neighbors, a business abutter, nine Ward 6 residents, people from all eight Wards, a union leader and a pastor.
• Only four speak against - including Neil Kinnon, Craig Spadafora and Jadeane Sica.
• Despite emphatic public statements that applicants could “just apply for variances”, these three now insist they had always been against variances ever being granted.
• You can watch the video of the meeting here! Positive comments are in the first three hours, and the only negative comments are after that.

• The variance requested by Benevolent Botanicals is denied by a vote of 5-0 at the January 19th Board of Appeal Public Hearing. The co-founders of the application and their lawyer, are not allowed to present their visual materials, or to speak in answer to any of the questions of Board members, or the concerns of those speaking against.^[8]

NOTES AND  CORRECTIONS

=========================

This history was composed by MNN editors, with input from a number of individuals.  In general, this recorded history is based on personal observation, meeting attendance at public body meetings, and firsthand reporting or documentation as well as review of minutes, video, websites, and other records.

Please send comments, corrections, and clarifications on factual or chronological accuracy to MaldenNewsNetwork <maldennewsnetwork@gmail.com>