Town Manager Jim Malloy chosen to lead ICMA

Lexington Town Manager Jim Malloy, who recently became president-elect of the International City/County Management Association, sees his new role as an extension of the work he does every day in his community.

This past June, the ICMA’s 21-member executive board chose Malloy as the organization’s president-elect for 2019-2020, and Malloy officially began his term in October during the ICMA’s annual conference in Nashville. He will become president during the ICMA’s annual conference next September in Toronto.

Malloy said he willingly took on this additional responsibility because he believes in the profession and wants to play a role in growing it for the future.

“Local government affects people’s lives on a daily basis,” Malloy said. “If we do our jobs well, if our teams and our staffs do their jobs well, we can make their lives better. If we don’t, it can have the opposite effect. We have one of the most important jobs in government, I think.”

In his ICMA leadership role, Malloy said he expects to continue with the organization’s ongoing work, which includes aligning the ICMA’s strategic plan with the board’s mission, diversifying the profession, and focusing on governance and the membership dues structure. Malloy said it’s also important to remember the “international” part of the ICMA’s name, and to promote global engagement.

Malloy has an extensive history of involvement in the ICMA. He served as an ICMA regional vice president from 2014 to 2017. His other ICMA roles have included chair of the Conference Planning Committee and chair of the Conference Host Committee when the ICMA’s annual conference was held in Boston in 2013.

When Malloy assumes the presidency next fall, he will be the first Massachusetts manager to lead the organization in its 106-year history.

“It really helps put us on the map, and provides us with a lot of exposure,” Malloy said.

Malloy has been the Lexington town manager since last October, after serving nine years as the town manager in Westborough and 15 years as the town administrator in Sturbridge. He has also held municipal management positions in New York and Colorado.

When he was applying for his current job, he said, he informed Lexington officials about his plan to pursue the ICMA presidency, telling them about the quarterly meetings and sharing the travel schedule. He said his staff welcomes the mentoring opportunities that can result from his ICMA work.

Malloy also chairs the MMA’s Fiscal Policy Committee and has worked extensively with the MMA. He has served on the MMA Board of Directors, and was president of the Massachusetts Municipal Management Association from 2010 to 2011.

MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith applauded Malloy’s election and national service.

“Jim Malloy is known by his colleagues as a ‘manager’s manager,’ one of the very best in the profession,” Beckwith said, “and we are thrilled that he will have this international role to promote the importance of ethical and professional management in building vibrant, effective and responsive governments that live up to the highest values of democracy.”

Malloy said he appreciates the support he received from his community and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Municipal Management Association.

“They’re proud of the fact that one of us will be able to lead our professional organization,” he said.