Mayor introduces Kimberly Wells as nominee for Somerville chief administrative officer

The mayor introduced Kimberly Wells as his appointee for Somerville’s chief administrative officer and invited the confirmation committee to consider her nomination.

"You all know Ms. Wells from her work with this body as the city clerk of Somerville for the past 5 years," the mayor said, adding that Wells has the "exact set of skills" needed for the CAO post and is "utterly convinced" she can lead the city’s operations. The mayor asked the committee to confirm her appointment.

Wells, who serves now as city clerk, told the committee she views the CAO role as an operational position that will work cross-departmentally to improve systems and implement the mayor’s priorities. She described prior work supporting the council, managing city archives and licensing, and projects from her time at the Collins Center for Public Management.

"I am really ready to take on this challenge working in the city as your CAO," Wells said, and invited questions from the committee.

Councilors praised Wells’ record and raised questions about the transition from a procedural clerk role to an executive position that requires broad judgment across competing priorities. Wells said legal advice and formal legal opinions would come from the city attorney’s office and that the CAO would synthesize information for the mayor and work collaboratively with the council, particularly on budgeting and capital planning.

Committee leaders took the item out of order at the mayor’s request so he could attend another meeting, but did not vote on the nomination this evening. Chair Baugh noted that the title cannot be given officially until the next full city council meeting and indicated the matter will return to the council for final action.