If you want to know why something in Chelsea works the way it does, Leo Robinson was probably in the room when it was decided. He has been elected council president seven times.
Old Ward Two
Robinson is a lifelong Chelsea resident and the third generation of his family to be from here. His mother was born in Chelsea, and so was her mother. He grew up in what he calls Old Ward Two, which he describes as the most diverse section of the city.
He went to the Williams School and Chelsea High School, then to Burdett College, and later completed a pre-master’s program at Cambridge College. He is a veteran of the United States Army, a homeowner, and a family man.
What he built
Two things come up in every account of his record.
The first is that he wrote the city’s Affordable Housing Ordinance. The second is the inclusionary zoning policy, which requires that new residential development produce affordable units, and which he describes as among his greatest accomplishments on the council. Inclusionary housing is still live: the current council president introduced an amendment to that same section of the zoning ordinances in June 2026.
He has also overseen three city manager searches. In a council-manager city, hiring the manager is the single largest decision the council makes, because the manager runs the government day to day. Doing it three times is institutional memory that cannot be transferred.
In 2020 Robinson and District 8 Councillor Calvin T. Brown together proposed the order that launched and funded a city diversity and inclusion office.
Outside City Hall
With his brother Ron Robinson he co-founded the Lewis Latimer Society, named for Lewis H. Latimer, the Black inventor and draftsman who was born in Chelsea, drew the patent illustrations for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and did the work on carbon filaments that made the electric light practical. Latimer is the most historically consequential person Chelsea has produced, and for most of the last century the city did close to nothing with that fact.
Beyond the city
In January 2022 Robinson announced a campaign for state representative. He was not elected to that office and has continued to serve on the council.
The numbers
He finished third in the at-large field on November 4, 2025 with 1,040 votes, behind Roberto Jimenez-Rivera at 1,146 and Kelly Garcia at 1,081. All three incumbents were returned. His term runs through 2027.
Sourcing: this profile draws on the Chelsea Record’s reporting, the councillor’s own published biography and professional profile where one exists, and the City Council’s posted meeting agendas. The city’s official council page lists each member’s seat and contact details but publishes no biographies and no committee assignments, so those could not be verified there. Anything we could not confirm is marked as unconfirmed rather than guessed at. Photograph: City of Chelsea. Corrections are welcome and will be published.