Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash, a Danvers resident, received the Theodore Mann Regional Leadership Award from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council at the planning agency’s Fall Meeting in Boston.
MAPC is the regional planning agency serving 101 cities and towns in Greater Boston. The award is given annually in memory of Newton’s longest-serving mayor, Theodore “Teddy” Mann, and recognizes a municipal leader from Greater Boston whose commitment to regional collaboration best exemplifies Mann’s legacy.
“Jay’s accomplishments in the city of Chelsea are the stuff of legend, reaching well beyond the city’s boundaries. He is ahead of the curve, a visionary, a practitioner who gets things done,” said Richard Mann, Theodore’s son, who presented the award to Ash on Wednesday, Oct. 29. He praised Ash’s achievements in revitalizing the once-struggling city, from securing credit rating increases to improving the schools and public safety to attracting new business and luxury housing, increasing livability for residents in the process. “Like Teddy Mann, he has gladly and willingly shared the secrets of his success with others,” Mann said.
Ash was born and raised in Chelsea and is a past president of MAPC. Appointed City Manager in 2001, he is Chelsea’s longest-serving CEO, and served the city as Planning Director and as Chief of Staff to House Majority Leader Richard Voke of Chelsea. He is co-founder and current vice-chairman of the Metro Mayors Coalition, he sits on the board of the public policy think tank MassINC, and is an elected trustee of his alma mater, Clark University.
“I take this award back to Chelsea, because it has always been about teamwork for us at City Hall. We can do so much more together than we can apart,” said Ash in accepting the honor. “The things we are doing here in this region were unthinkable 30 years ago, and I know that Theodore Mann would be proud of all we’ve achieved. I look forward to all the achievements the future is going to bring.”
