The announcement in this week’s Sun-Transcript from Town Manager Jim McKenna announcing that he is stepping down from his position as our Town Manager marks the conclusion of a highly-successful eight-year tenure that has benefitted the town immensely.
When Jim arrived here in 2009, the town was off to a bit of a rocky start in the transition to a Town Manager form of government. The effects of the deep recession of 2008-09 were a major contributing factor to the problems facing the town at that time, but there also were issues involving the then-Town Manager and the Town Council.
However, shortly after his arrival in Winthrop, Jim McKenna began to implement a series of initiatives that both stabilized the town’s financial picture and that would lead to a number of far-ranging improvements and accomplishments for the betterment of our community.
It is not an exaggeration to say that under the leadership of Jim McKenna, together with the incredible support from our State Representative, House Speaker Bob DeLeo, the past decade has seen more progress toward our town’s improvement than any 10-year period in our history.
When Gov. Charlie Baker and his Economic Development Secretary, Jay Ash, were in town to present a big check to Winthrop officials for infrastructure improvements to our Centre, the esteem with which Jim McKenna is held at the state level was obvious.
We know we join with all of our fellow residents in offering a big “Thank you†to Jim McKenna for all he has done for our town and wishing him the best of luck in his future endeavors.