EIGHT MASSACHUSETTS mayors – nearly a fifth of all the mayors in the state – have announced they are stepping down this year.
Five of them, including Thomas Bernard of North Adams, Joe Curtatone of Somerville, Donna Holaday of Newburyport, Tom McGee of Lynn, and David Narkiewicz of Northampton, chose not to run for reelection.
Three other mayors either have left or are planning to leave their posts to take new jobs. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is expected to be confirmed next week as Labor Secretary in the Biden administration. Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse is taking the job of town manager in Provincetown. And Dan Rivera, facing a term limit ceiling in Lawrence, took the top job at MassDevelopment.
There is no universal explanation for their decisions, but COVID-19 appeared to be a key contributing factor, particularly for those choosing not to run again.
Holaday, for example, told her local newspaper that leading the city during its worst health crisis in more than a century was a factor in her decision to step down after 12 years in office. “It’s a 24/7 job and this year has been really hard, no doubt about it,” Holaday said.
Curtatone, after nearly 18 years in office, told the Boston Globe that he was exhausted from dealing with the pandemic. “I’m tired of COVID — I’m not tired of the job. My passion for public service is there,” he said. “I feel good about [leaving], but I’m not excited. And that’s good. I can do it another 20 years, but I don’t think I should.”
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Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
Narkiewicz, after a decade in office, said it felt like the right time to step away. “It’s a grueling job. It’s a 24/7 job,” Narkewicz said. “I’m grateful to my family. It’s a sacrifice for them, and I’m so grateful to them for allowing me the opportunity to do this work and supporting me.”
Bernard, after four years in office, said he felt like he couldn’t campaign, run the city, and respond to COVID all at the same time. “You look at it and you say, ‘All right, I can do COVID recovery, I can do management and leadership, I can do campaign,’” he told the Williamstown Record. “I can try to do two of those things well, but if I try and take on all three, it’s going to slip. It’s the right decision for me, it’s the right decision for my family, and it’s the right decision for the city.”
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