CityHall | Newton MA News and Politics BlogMy April Fool’s story – “Big shakeup at City Hall” was a bit closer to the truth than I realized.

In a letter to the Board of Aldermen this morning, the mayor announced the imminent departure of Bob Rooney the city’s Chief Operating Officer (COO).  Mr. Rooney has been COO since 2010 and has been involved in one way or another in virtually every major initiative in the city in recent years.

His departure is a major loss for the city.  His deep knowledge and experience on a wide range of subjects, his managerial skill and his common sense are a valuable combination of skills that will be hard to replace.

I’ve got to a know Mr. Rooney a bit while working on a few different projects and I’m going to miss his quiet, dry sense of humor too – which can be a great antidote when tensions rise.

There’s no word in the letter about where he’s off to next but I wish him well.  I think we all owe him a debt for his service to the City of Newton in a very demanding job.