Boston Mayor Wu’s chief of streets, who oversaw city’s bike lane expansion, has quit

Boston Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge, who oversaw the city’s contentious bus and bike lane expansion, is departing the Wu administration at the end of the year in the latest staffing shakeup leading up to the mayor’s second term.

Franklin-Hodge was appointed chief of streets by Mayor Michelle Wu in December 2021, and after serving in that role for the entirety of the mayor’s first term in office, will not be returning for the second term of the Wu administration.

Wu confirmed Franklin-Hodge’s departure Friday, saying in a statement that she was “grateful to Jascha for his years of service to the City of Boston in making our streets safer and more connected for our residents.”

“Under Franklin-Hodge’s leadership, our departments tackled longstanding challenges that helped improve and deliver basic city services and infrastructure more quickly than ever before,” Wu said. “Over the last four years, we built more miles of protected infrastructure than ever before, repaved 102 miles of roadway, accelerated processes to build and fix sidewalks, improved trash pickup and snow removal, and modernized parking meters and streets management.

“Jascha’s leadership has set a foundation for continued improvement and service delivery, and we are so grateful for his lasting impact,” the mayor added.

The mayor’s office said Franklin-Hodge resigned and would be leaving at the end of the year. No announcement has been made about who will replace him.

Franklin-Hodge was paid $191,653 last year, per city payroll records.

“Serving the City of Boston as chief of streets has been the honor of a lifetime,” Franklin-Hodge said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Mayor Wu for giving me the opportunity. Government is a relay-race, but I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to deliver and the organization we’ve built.

“I joined this administration because I believe in Mayor Wu and I’ve been happy to have the opportunity to serve this incredible leader who has given us the space to not only improve the infrastructure of our streets, but to make them safer and help people get around more effectively.”

The city’s widespread implementation of bus and bike lanes under Franklin-Hodge’s leadership has drawn backlash from residents, became a campaign issue in the mayoral race, and led to a 30-day review last spring that concluded the engagement from the Streets Cabinet was “heavy-handed.”

The review was led by Mike Brohel, superintendent of basic city services, rather than Franklin-Hodge.

“During the 30-day review meetings, we heard consistent feedback that project communications and community engagement were inadequate, that decisions seemed pre-determined, and that processes too often did not achieve consensus, contributing to a loss of community trust,” stated a city memo issued at the conclusion of the review last April.

“We heard feedback that the tone of some engagements was very heavy-handed and relevant information was not shared, questioning the veracity of the process.”

Mayor Wu previously announced that she will have a new chief of staff in her second term. Tiffany Chu is departing her role as Wu’s top deputy, and will be replaced by Clare Kelly, the city’s director of intergovernmental relations, who will begin her new position on Nov. 17.

Wu was reelected to a second term in this week’s election.