December 31, 2014 — Mayor Carolyn Kirk will leave office at 4 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2015, ending her seven years as the city's chief executive and beginning her next professional chapter as a senior official in the incoming administration of Gov.-elect Charlie Baker.
Kirk this morning submitted her formal resignation in a letter to City Clerk Linda Lowe.
"The state of the city is sound and primed for a future that is true to the very best that Gloucester can be," Kirk wrote in her letter. "It has been a privilege to serve the citizens of Gloucester, and I will never forget this city and its people who have enriched my life so very much."
Kirk, 53, is leaving midway through her fourth term as the city's first elected female mayor. Her new position is deputy secretary of the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, where she will serve as the No. 2 official, reporting directly to Secretary-designate Jay Ash.
Kirk's choice of a 2015 departure date removed the need for a city-wide special election for interim mayor and thrust the city council into the role of choosing the interim mayor from among its own ranks.
City Council President Paul McGeary earlier said he expects the council to schedule a special meeting to discuss choosing the interim mayor in advance of its regularly scheduled Jan. 13 meeting.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times