Big Pharma has a new scheme that will make them even more money: undermining patients' bargaining power and blaming anyone who gets in their way. If we want to solve the Rx cost crisis, we need to hold Big Pharma accountable. To find out how, go to saveourbenefitsma.org.
On a glide path to reelection, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Monday made the first big hire as she looked ahead to her second term, elevating Clare Kelly, a longtime supporter with political and policy chops, to the high-level job of chief of staff.
Kelly’s hiring is the first domino in the transition to the second term inside City Hall. Additional turnover is widely expected, as Wu eyes priorities and proposed policy solutions on housing, childcare, climate change and schools, and turns to her large inner circle, Kelly included, for advice. The second term officially starts in January.
Kelly will start in the job Nov. 17, replacing Tiffany Chu, who has held the job since February 2022. Kelly joined the administration a month earlier, as the director of intergovernmental affairs, handling the mayor’s legislative priorities at the City Council level, the State House and the federal level.
Before she joined City Hall, Kelly worked as executive director of the Environmental League of Mass. Action Fund, which supported Wu’s 2021 election. Her resume also includes stints as executive director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and top positions for Gov. Deval Patrick’s political action committee and his 2010 reelection campaign.
Kelly’s appointment, and her time interacting with the various levels of government as Wu’s intergovernmental liaison, comes as cities led by Democratic mayors are coming under intense pressure from the federal government, including unwanted troop deployments.
“Everybody’s navigating the new federal climate, and I think part of it is how we can work with residents, what’s impacting them, what residents are the most targeted, and how do we build coalitions,” Kelly told MASSterList.
At the state level, Wu has indicated a Beacon Hill conversation about revenue diversification for municipalities is coming, “whether or not anyone wants to have the conversation,” due to the inflationary strain on the budgets of cities and towns across the state.
Kelly, like the mayor, is a Boston Public Schools mother. She lives in Jamaica Plain with her family, and said she is often approached at playgrounds by residents looking to connect with City Hall. “I love community work and how you make decisions collaboratively,” she said.
Chu, the outgoing chief of staff, previously worked as the CEO and co-founder of Remix, a software platform for transportation planning. According to the Wu administration, she plans a sabbatical and spending more time with her family after her departure from City Hall.
Thanks to everyone who came up and said hello at yesterday’s MASSterList and State House News Service event, “Solutions to Massachusetts’ Healthcare Workforce Challenges.” (More on the event below.) Please feel free to keep in touch, particularly if you have tips and intel on Beacon Hill and Boston City Hall: [email protected].
MASSterList Job Board |
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Chief Administrative Officer — NEW!, Cape Light Compact |
Massachusetts State Director — NEW!, Reproductive Equity Now |
Director of Finance, City of Boston (Planning Department) |
Director of Parks and Open Space, City of Newton |
Deputy Administrator for Administration and Finance, MetroWest Regional Transit Authority |
CFO, Girl Scouts of Central and Western MA |
Victim Compensation Claims Manager, Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance |
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HAPPENING TODAY
8:00 | MassBio hosts its annual Align Summit, a conference that "builds crucial relationships between funders and biotech startups," organizers say. The summit will focus on "the next generation of therapies and the rapidly expanding promise of techbio," according to the agenda. | Boston Marriott Copley Place, 110 Huntington Ave, Boston | Agenda
9:00 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will give remarks at the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies and the Division of Local Services Statewide Municipal Partnerships Conference. | College of the Holy Cross, Hogan Campus Center, 1 College St, Worcester
9:30 | Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Women's Network hosts Congresswoman Katherine Clark for a fireside chat moderated by Grace Lee, CEO & President of St. Mary's Credit Union. | Verizon, 100 Causeway Street, Boston
10:00 | MassINC releases a report, "Fixing the Foundation: Uneven Access to Modern Schools and the Blueprint for a More Equitable Future," highlighting how facility conditions contribute to achievement gaps and outlines policies to strengthen the Massachusetts School Building Authority to redirect resources. | Gardner Auditorium, State House, Boston
3:00 | Calling hours for Sen. Edward Kennedy of Lowell, who died last Wednesday at the age of 74. | McDonough Funeral Home, 14 Highland St., Lowell
Two of the nation’s best hospitals—Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital—are uniting as one team to deliver the most powerful kind of cancer care. One team that performs the most surgeries and has the most specialists in New England. One team turning discovery into hope. We’re one against cancer. Discover more
GOVERNORS GATHER IN SEAPORT
Gov. Maura Healey joined other Democratic governors at a Boston Seaport hotel Monday, meeting behind closed doors with donors and grappling with what she called “the chaos and uncertainty” coming from Washington, D.C., which remains in federal shutdown mode.
“I know, for us governors, we're talking a lot about two things, in particular: Housing, how to build more housing more quickly, and health care, how do we deal with rising health care costs, and what do we need to do to lower health care costs?” Healey told MASSterList on her way into the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) policy conference. “And that continues to be, I think, the focus of Democratic governors right now.”
Healey was set to moderate a panel on data centers. A dinner was planned for Fenway Park.
In the lobby of the hotel, donors milled around as troopers from other states, providing security detail, kept watch. Suffolk CEO John Fish was spotted in the lobby. Some donors and policy conference attendees carried tote bags that said DEM GOVS on one side and BOSTON 2025 on the other.
New York’s Kathy Hochul, Maine’s Janet Mills, New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grisham, and Rhode Island’s Dan McKee were all scheduled to attend. Just as notably, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and California’s Gavin Newsom were not expected.
FROM BEACON HILL
HEALTH CARE DOLLARS: The Massachusetts health care economy is facing a bumpy road as costs are jumping higher than reimbursements from payers and federal funding cuts loom, policymakers and sector leaders said at a forum Monday. – MASSterList
BOUNCED CHECK: Mike Kennealy, one of the three GOP gubernatorial hopefuls, is ignoring a state law limiting the amount of cash a candidate can loan themselves. – Boston Herald
HEALEY HEALTH CHIEF: Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, Gov. Maura Healey’s new health and human services secretary, grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spent his teenage years in Switzerland. – State House News Service
RURAL CARE DELIVERY: Massachusetts state health officials are eyeing an application for a piece of a $50 billion federal fund that is aimed at innovative care delivery in rural communities. The fund was created through President Trump’s tax and policy bill. – Gloucester Times
NEWS NEXT DOOR
TARIFF TALK: Small importers are expected to pass along more of the costs of tariffs to consumers, a survey from the Boston Fed says. – Boston Business Journal
HOSPITAL OVERHAUL: HYM Investment Group, led by developer Tom O’Brien, has signed a contract with the owners of the former Carney Hospital campus. – Dorchester Reporter
OVERRIDE TALKS: Brookline town and school district officials are weighing whether to approve a tax override next year, adding to tensions between the two camps after an outside investigation found financial mismanagement by administrators. – Brookline.News
MBTA SAFETY: MBTA General Manager Phil Eng sent a letter to Trump transportation chief Sean Duffy, saying the public transit agency is focused on safety for riders and staff, and pointed to strides in improving the overall system. – WBUR
SOMERVILLE DIVESTMENT: An advisory ballot question calling on Somerville to stop doing business with companies tied to Israel is set to appear on the city’s 2025 ballot. – GBH News
DEALING OUT: Neighbors of the MGM casino in Springfield are bracing for the end of a mitigation fund doled out by the state gaming commission. – MassLive
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JOB BOARD
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Manager of Financial Assessments, Center for Health Information and Analysis
Program Assistant, Clean Air & Water, Conservation Law Foundation
Chief Financial and Operations Officer, Massachusetts Housing Partnership
Executive Director, Massachusetts Housing Partnership
Economic Development DirectorManager of Financial Assessments, City of Haverhill
Program Director, Building Electrification Accelerator
Chief Executive Officer, Berkshire Hills Music Academy
Chief of Projects & Planning, City of Cambridge
Senior Transportation Planner, Boston Region MPO/ CTPS
Director, Bureau of Program Integrity, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Executive Director, Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
