Jump to content

Gary Christenson (mayor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gary Christenson
Photograph of Gary Christenson, a white man in his 50s with brown and gray hair
Christenson in 2022
Mayor of Malden
Assumed office
January 2, 2012
Preceded byRichard C. Howard
President of the Malden City Council
In office
2008 – December 2011
Member of the Malden City Council
from Ward 1
In office
January 2004 - December 2011
Budget Director for Middlesex County Sheriff's Office
In office
January 1998 – January 2011
Personal details
Born
Gary J. Christenson

Malden, Massachusetts
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materSuffolk University
Suffolk Business School
Suffolk University Law School
Websitewww.christensonformayor.com

Gary Christenson is the mayor of Malden, Massachusetts.

Education

[edit]

Gary Christenson is a triple alumnus of Suffolk University. He has received a bachelor's degree in political science and business management in 1990 and a master's degree in public administration in 1992. In 2003, Gary received his Juris Doctor from the Suffolk University Law School.[1][2][3]

Political career

[edit]

Gary's political career began with working for the Massachusetts House Ways and Means committee from 1994 to 1997. Reporting to Tom Finneran, he was a budget analyst, revenue director, and special assistant. He then worked at the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office where he assumed the role of budget director from 1998 to 2011. He managed a $60 million annual budget during his tenure.[1][2] He also worked with other Sheriff's Office managers to ensure the efficient operation of the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge and Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica.[3] He received online attention in 2019 for his habit of picking up trash every day while walking to the office.[4]

School Committee

Gary Christenson was appointed to the Malden School Committee by then-Mayor Richard Howard, the man he would eventually replace as Mayor of Malden.

Gary was encouraged to join the school committee by his mentor, James DiPaola, a Malden resident, and former head of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Department, where Gary had worked for him.

Since Gary became Mayor and Chair of the School Committee, the educators’ union became one of the few in the Commonwealth to have to go on strike in the past two decades.

City Council

[edit]

Gary Christenson served as a city councillor of Ward 1 in Malden for seven years after taking office in January 2004. In 2006, he was elevated to Chairman of the Finance Committee and in 2008 he was voted unanimously by his peers as City Council President.[1][2]

Mayor

[edit]

Gary Christenson was elected mayor of Malden in 2011 and took office on January 2, 2012.[2][5] He ran unopposed in 2015 and was re-elected for a third term in 2019.[6][7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "About Gary". Christenson for Mayor. Christenson for Mayor. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d "Gary Christenson". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Meet the Candidate: Gary Christenson". Wicked Local: Malden. Wicked Local. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  4. ^ "WATCH: Malden Mayor Daily Trash Pickup Routine Earns Him Online Recognition". WBZ NewsRadio1030. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  5. ^ "Gary Christenson takes the reins of mayor at city's inauguration ceremony on Monday". Malden News. The Malden Advocate. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Christenson re-elected mayor in Malden". Wicked Local. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  7. ^ "2015 Malden Election Day Information". Malden, MA Patch. 2015-10-29. Retrieved 2023-08-15.