City Leadership
The Mayor’s Office
The Mayor
Jeannette A. McCarthy
No one has run Waltham longer. Jeannette A. McCarthy has been mayor since January 2004, which makes her the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history, and voters re-elected her in November 2023 to a four-year term that runs through 2027. She is the chief executive under Waltham’s strong-mayor charter: she writes the budget, appoints and can remove the heads of police, fire, public works, and health, and chairs the School Committee. McCarthy came up through the City Council before she won the corner office, and she is known for a careful, conservative hand with money that has left the city with unusually large reserves. Two big projects mark her tenure. She drove the 2014 purchase of the former Walter E. Fernald state school site, nearly 200 acres of land the city now controls, and she oversaw the new Waltham High School on Lexington Street, one of the most expensive public school buildings ever built in Massachusetts. Because Waltham hands real power to an elected mayor, when a city service runs well or breaks down, this is the desk where it stops.
| Role | Mayor (chief executive) |
|---|---|
| In office | Since January 2004 |
| Office | City Hall, Second Floor, 610 Main Street, Waltham, MA 02452 |
| Phone | 781-314-3100 |
| mayor@city.waltham.ma.us | |
| Hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Website | city.waltham.ma.us |
What the Mayor Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, and the rest answer to the Mayor, who appoints their leaders and can remove them.
- Writes the budget. Each year the Mayor proposes how the city will spend its money, then sends the plan to the Council.
- Signs or vetoes. When the Council passes an ordinance, the Mayor can sign it into law or veto it. A two-thirds Council vote can override.
- Chairs the schools. Under the charter the Mayor chairs the School Committee, linking City Hall and the classroom.
The Administration
- Department heads are appointed by the Mayor and carry out policy, from plowing snow to inspecting restaurants.
- The City Council is the check: it must approve the budget and can override a veto with a two-thirds vote.
- Boards and commissions, most of them appointed by the Mayor, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- City Hall: 610 Main Street, Waltham, MA 02452. The Mayor’s Office is on the second floor.
- Mayor’s Office: 781-314-3100, or email mayor@city.waltham.ma.us. Open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Report a problem: potholes and street or sidewalk issues go to Public Works through seeclickfix.com/waltham.
- Show up: the Council meets in the Council Chamber on the second and fourth Mondays, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a city decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.