A potential new position in the Chelsea government will help provide greater clarity and accountability for economic development in the city.
At Monday night’s city council meeting, City Manager Fidel Maltez requested the council to authorize him to establish a new position and hire a Chief Economic Development Officer.
The council moved to send the request to a subcommittee on conference for further discussion.
“At the conclusion of FY2026, it became very clear that the City Council is seeking greater clarity, accountability, and effectiveness in how the City manages and advances economic development opportunities,” Maltez said. “The Council appropriately asked the administration to clearly identify who is responsible for shepherding development opportunities through City government and ensuring that projects receive the coordination and attention necessary to move forward. Historically, economic development responsibilities have been distributed among several departments and offices.”
While many departments have an important role to play, this decentralized approach has created confusion about responsibility and accountability, the city manager stated.
“Development projects frequently require the involvement of Planning, Inspectional Services, Public Works, Law, Finance, the City Manager’s Office, and other municipal functions,” Maltez stated. “We need one person whose primary responsibility is to bring these pieces together. The Chief Development Officer would be an exempt, salaried member of the administration with a high degree of confidentiality and ability to work independently.”
The chief development officer would serve as the city’s central point of coordination for economic development, working across departments to identify opportunities, assist prospective developers and businesses, coordinate municipal review, resolve obstacles, facilitate community engagement, and ensure that the city is proactively positioning itself to attract and retain investment, the city manager added.
“Over the past six months, our administration has placed a tremendous emphasis on economic development,” Maltez said. “Through this work, we have learned something very important: there is significant interest in Chelsea from businesses, developers, and other potential investors seeking to undertake a wide range of projects. These opportunities do not happen on their own.
“They require a high level of engagement, cooperation, communication, and coordination,” he continued. “We have learned that when the city is actively involved in development conversations from the beginning, helping applicants understand our expectations, coordinating internal processes, identifying potential challenges early, and creating meaningful opportunities for community engagement, we achieve better outcomes for everyone.”
Maltez said that having one senior staff member fully dedicated to this work is not only a best practice; but something he believes is critical to meeting the moment and ensuring that Chelsea is positioned for continued success.
“Over the past three months, I have personally visited and spoken with officials in several communities to learn how they structure their economic development functions and what approaches have been successful,” Maltez said. “The City of Everett recently established a position identical to the one proposed here. The City of Worcester has operated with a Chief Economic Development Officer for several years and has seen significant success through a dedicated and coordinated economic development strategy.”
The economic development position was not included in the FY2027 adopted budget, and establishing the position during FY2027 will require a supplemental appropriation once free cash is certified, according to the city manager.
“For FY2028 and beyond, the administration will identify reductions and efficiencies elsewhere in the budget to accommodate this position,” Maltez said.
Monday night, District 7 Councilor Manuel Teshe did raise some questions about the financing of the position, and asked if it might make more sense to bring the position onboard with the FY28 budget so there could be more discussion about it. He said the city manager is looking to bring on a high-level position that would likely have a six-figure salary.
Councilor-at-Large Leo Robinson said the only thing the council would be voting on is the appropriation of money to cover the position.
“This is something I’ve been working on with the city manager, that we need a certified person to go out and sell the city to bring in commercial development, look at residential development,” said Robinson. “We need somebody who has the background to do that. Currently, in our city, we do not have a person to do that.”
District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor said he would not be in favor of waiting to fill the position.
“I think the economic position is more dire than a lot of people realize,” Taylor said. “This city needs to do what’s necessary to create economic opportunity. The city is not just about providing people with necessities; what we need to be doing is creating the economic opportunities in the city for people to take care of their own economic necessities, and this is the first step in doing that.”
District 6 Councilor Giovanni Recupero said the type of office was needed to help promote the city and bring in more economic opportunities and help investment in Chelsea.
District 2 Councilor Deron Hines said he had conflicting feelings about the position.
“We are constantly having conversations about how we don’t have funds to do something,” said Hines. “I don’t know if another position, similar to what councilor Teshe said, is needed with a very high paying salary to then go and do this work.”
Hines said he does see Maltez out doing the work needed to sell the city, and that there are others in the city, including Robinson, who regularly reach out to businesses to create economic opportunity.
“I just don’t know if we need to hire another person to take on this work,” he said.
District 5 Councilor Lisa Santagate said she was in favor of the position, but asked about existing positions within the housing and community development department that focus on business.
Maltez said the city has put a lot of focus on economic development, but that the work necessitated a full-time job.