Leading Massachusetts into the future will take the talent, dedication, and hard work of leaders from all of our 351 cities and towns. Our mission at the Massachusetts Municipal Association is to help those leaders deal with some of the toughest issues in the state.

On this podcast, hosts Adam Chapdelaine, executive director of the MMA, and John Ouellette, communications director at the MMA, speak with the innovators and experts who are leading the Commonwealth forward and working to make it stronger. New episodes drop every other Tuesday.

Episode 5: What are the real pressures facing local leaders in Massachusetts in 2026? In this episode, we speak with the outgoing president and incoming president of the MMA — Franklin Town Administrator Jaime Hellen and Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove, respectively — as they go in-depth about how local leaders are often torn in multiple directions and work to achieve success for their communities under the constraints of time, staffing and budgets. They share how fortunate they feel to do the work they do, despite the challenges, and how the MMA is the “glue” that brings local leaders together to solve mutual problems. They also discuss tackling funding shortfalls, and what they’ve learned from their mutual love of hiking.

Episode 4: What can Massachusetts leaders learn from someone with three and a half decades of public service experience? Kate Fitzpatrick spent 35 years with the town of Needham, and is now the Northeast Regional Director for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Throughout her career, she’s recognized the importance of navigating divisions, building consensus, and engaging with the community. She shares her proven strategies and explains why she takes the long view, why process matters just as much as outcomes, and why mentorship is vital to the health of our cities and towns.

Episode 3: What does a lack of funding from the federal level mean for leaders of cities and towns? In this episode, we look beyond the national politics that are dominating the headlines and dive deeper into the real work of nonpartisan local government with Clarence Anthony, Executive Director of the National League of Cities. A former mayor himself, Clarence talks about the opportunities for strong leadership in cities and towns in this moment, the importance of humanity in public service, the toll of polarization, and what he sees are the most urgent priorities to address.

Episode 2: As we look into 2026, municipalities across Massachusetts face an onslaught of challenges, from housing affordability to energy costs to maintaining the quality essential services that residents rely on every day. Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll highlights what the administration is doing to help communities tackle these issues, the importance of local governments and public service, and the lessons she learned as Mayor of Salem that she uses to inform her leadership today.

Episode 1: A combination of inflation-driven costs, diminishing state support for municipal services, and tight restrictions on local revenue-raising have created a “perfect storm” for local governments in Massachusetts. In this episode, hosts Adam and John talk about the MMA’s ground-breaking “Perfect Storm” report, which examines the fiscal challenges faced by the state’s 351 cities and towns, and the association’s “Navigating the Storm” response. They discuss key findings around the insufficient recovery of local aid post-Great Recession, the unreasonableness of Proposition 2½ in current economic conditions — and potential solutions, particularly the critical need for state reinvestment to support essential local services.