ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROUKRE
Outgoing Chief of Staff Jamie Cerulli gives papers to her replacement John Krol as Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy oversees.
LYNN — Ten months before what could be a knock-down, drag- out fight for the corner office, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy has hired a new chief of staff.
John Krol, 38, a city license commissioner, replaces Jamie Cerulli in the high profile assignment.
“This is a dream job,” he said. “The mayor is a good friend whom I believe in … I’m thrilled to have a chance to work for her and the city.”
The lifelong Lynn resident is a graduate of Lynn Vocational Technical High School and North Shore Community College. He is chairman of the 80-member Lynn Republican Committee and ran unsuccessfully for school committee twice. Kennedy started out with a list of a dozen candidates to fill the $70,000 job, narrowed it to three and interviewed one person, she said. When she attended Donald Trump’s inauguration nearly two weeks ago, she ran into Krol, a fellow Republican. They had dinner and the two discussed the job. The mayor said she became convinced he was the perfect candidate.
“John has all the right qualities,” she said. “I am very comfortable with him, he has common sense, I trust him, I believe in him, his intuition, loyalty, his ability to run an office, and to be stern when he has to be and unfailingly pleasant at other times.”
Cerulli, who has been Kennedy’s chief of staff since 2011, has accepted a position as Inspectional Services Department coordinator.
“It’s going to be hard to replace somebody as talented as Jamie,” Kennedy said. “But I’m confident John will pick up all the nuances of the job quickly.”
Krol arrives at City Hall in an election year. While Kennedy has not yet declared her candidacy, she is expected to seek a third term. At least two other candidates have expressed interest in the office including Sen. Thomas McGee (D-Lynn) and City Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre. If the matchup is between Kennedy and McGee, it could be a brawl pitting the popular mayor against the well-known senator whose family name is legend in the city.
Until recently, Krol worked as an accounts manager at MCR Technologies in Wakefield.
“The mayor has told me my biggest challenge will be being mean,” he said with a laugh. “I told the mayor, I don’t know about mean, but I can be stern.”
Miguel Funez, a fellow licensing commissioner, said Krol is smart and a good fit for the job.
“The mayor has made a great choice,” he said. “I wish him the best in the new job.”
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Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].