Ned Keefe was honored by the city council on Monday night for his more than three decades of service to Chelsea, most notably as the deputy city manager.
Keefe began working in the city’s department of planning and community development in 1993 and became the director of the department in 2002. He was appointed deputy city manager in 2008 by then city manager Jay Ash and served under Ash and Thomas Ambrosino.
Keefe served as interim city manager during three transitions, and in 2023 was appointed permanent city manager before Fidel Maltez was appointed by the council. He most recently served as Chelsea’s director of health and human services.
“I want to congratulate Ned on his fantastic job … your dedication to the city of Chelsea, your professionalism, your attitude, your positive influence on me as a young city councilor,” said District 8 Councilor Calvin Brown. “There has been a lot of collaboration, a lot of work; there is nothing that has been accomplished in the last 20 years that you haven’t been a central part of working with three city managers and doing a great job just guiding us in some of the tough times.”
Councilor-at-Large Leo Robinson said Keefe has played a large role in the economic development of the city over the past several decades.
“One of the things that people don’t know, he was the person behind the (Chelsea) 400,” said Robinson. “He met with (city solicitor) Cheryl (Watson Fisher) and I and we talked about what kind of money it was going to take to kick off the 400, and he was able to figure it out and put up $100,000 for us to be able to kick the 400 off.”
District 5 Councilor Lisa Santagate praised Keefe for his work ethic and attitude.
“I think what I like best about working with you is that you were always so calm, and you are a consummate professional and you just automatically make people feel at ease,” she said.
Council President Norieliz DeJesus thanked Keefe for his years of commitment and dedication to the city.
“I’m very pleased to have worked with so many wonderful people here for so many years, and to work on behalf of our joint effort here, which is to improve the experience of living in Chelsea for the people that live here,” said Keefe.
He thanked the council for teaming up the administration to give guidance and direction, fund efforts that it wished to undertake, and shared the vision of where it wanted the city to go.