Two Step Down From Mayor's Staff

Two staff members for Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 stepped down last month, prompting at least one city councillor to question the motives behind the resignations.

Isaac Graves, Reeves' chief of staff, and Cecile Williams, an administrative support staff member, resigned September 23, said Jubi Heabley, executive assistant to the mayor. Graves had been hired seven months earlier.

Repeated attempts to reach Graves and Williams were unsuccessful.

City officials said the two staff members stepped down for private reasons unrelated to a recent decision to reduce support staff in the mayor's office.

"It's not unusual," Reeves said of the resignations. "In political life, many people come and go."

"[Graves and Williams] have contributed enormously in their time with my office," Reeves added. "They are both very good people."

But some questioned the resignations, noting that Graves--Reeves' third chief of staff during his three-year tenure--was a staff member for such a short time.

City Councillor Jonathan F. Myers said there was a "lack of clarity" in the staff members' departure.

"The only question I would have is: was this just a private personnel matter...or something that in any way related to the public trust?" Myers said. "It doesn't make much sense to me."

After a management team assessed the efficiency of the Mayor's office in May, Reeves developed a plan which included administrative changes that would allow a new focus on community outreach and education.

"Mayor Reeves has decided to reorganize the staff of the Office of the Mayor into a team that he believes will not only serve the residents of the city of Cambridge to greater benefit, but will result in increased efficiency of operation, with a streamlined staff structure," said a statement released last week.

Reeves said he probably will not hire a new chief of staff to replace Graves.

"The reorganization of staff de-emphasizes administrative support positions, while redirecting the energies of staff, working as a team, to focus on providing enhanced Constituent and Neighborhood Services," the press release said.