Chelsea is run day to day by a city manager. It is governed by eleven people who almost nobody can name.
The City Council is the legislative branch. It adopts the ordinances the city runs on, and it reviews and adopts the budget the city manager proposes. Eleven members: three elected citywide as councillors at-large, and one for each of the eight districts. Terms are two years, and elections fall in odd-numbered years. The current council was sworn in for the 2026 and 2027 term.
This week we are publishing a profile of every one of them.
The 2026 council
| Seat | Councillor |
|---|---|
| At-Large, Council President | Roberto Jimenez-Rivera |
| At-Large | Leo Robinson |
| At-Large | Kelly Garcia |
| District 1 | Todd Taylor |
| District 2 | Deron Hines |
| District 3, Vice President | Norieliz DeJesus |
| District 4 | Tanairi Garcia |
| District 5 | Lisa Anne Santagate |
| District 6 | Giovanni A. Recupero |
| District 7 | Manuel Teshe |
| District 8 | Calvin T. Brown |
Roberto Jimenez-Rivera was elected council president by his colleagues at the inaugural meeting in January 2026. Norieliz DeJesus, who had held the presidency for the previous two years, was chosen as vice president.
What the last election actually looked like
The November 4, 2025 municipal election is the reason this series exists, because most of it was not a contest.
Four of the eight district seats drew no opponent: District 3, District 5, District 6 and District 7. Their councillors were returned without a vote being cast against them. All three at-large incumbents were re-elected. Exactly one seat changed hands anywhere on the council: District 2, where Deron Hines defeated incumbent Melinda Vega, 206 to 147, according to the Chelsea Record’s results.
The closest race was District 8, where Calvin T. Brown finished six votes ahead of challenger Marceza Kotoni. A hand recount in December left the margin exactly where it started.
Put together: on a council of eleven, ten members returned, four of them unopposed, and the whole balance of the body turned on a handful of ballots in one ward.
Why we are doing this
An unopposed race is not evidence that a councillor is doing badly or doing well. It is evidence that most residents never had the occasion to learn who they are. These are the people who vote on the budget, on zoning, and on the ordinances that decide what can be built and where.
Over the coming week we will publish one profile a day, two on most days, starting with the council president and the vice president. Each is sourced, and each says plainly what we could not confirm.
The City Council’s office is at City Hall, 500 Broadway, Room 306, and its published phone number is 617.466.4060.