Cambridge City Council appoints acting city manager

CAMBRIDGE — The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously at a meeting on April 8 to make David Deutsch acting city manager upon Tom Carroll’s exit and to approve a contract with Mercer Group Associates for recruitment services for the next city manager.

On March 18, Carroll submitted his resignation from the city manager position. He said his last day with the city would be no later than May 17.

The reason for this decision, he said, was his concerns with Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc.’s Cambridge Harbor project, a project to develop the space along the Cambridge waterfront.

In a March 19 interview with the Star Democrat, Carroll said he had accepted a city manager position for the City of Lexington, Virginia.

With the council’s April 8 vote, Deutsch will take over as acting city manager on a temporary, part-time basis beginning in May. He will not work more than 40 hours per month at a $125 per hour, and his travel expenses are not to exceed $1,000 per month.

In an April 3 memo to the mayor and commissioners, Carroll said this schedule will economize Deutsch’s work and put more responsibilities on Cambridge’s Assistant City Manager Brandon Hesson.

Deutsch is a senior associate at Mercer Group Associates and a former city manager. According to Carroll’s memo, Deutsch served as Cambridge’s acting city manager in 2021 and 2022, and he helped Cambridge with its city manager search in 2022.

“Mr. Deutsch has the necessary credentials and familiarity with Cambridge and the organization,” Carroll said in his memo.

Deutsch will also lead the recruitment for the next city manager, according to the memo. This recruitment contract with Mercer Group Associates will cost the town $21,800 and up to $5,000 in reimbursable expense.

Before voting on the contract and appointment of Deutsch, Commission President Lajan Cephas asked Carroll, laughing, “Can you leave some of your DNA so it can be replicated?”

“I’ll do my best,” Carroll said in response.

Following the news of Carroll’s resignation, Cephas called Carroll a gift to Cambridge. She said he has made a lasting impact on the city.