Press Release: 12/16/2025

MMA launches ‘The 351’ podcast

 

The second episode of “The 351” features Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, center, in conversation with co-hosts MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine, left, and Communications Director John Ouellette.

The MMA today launched its new podcast: “The 351” – a show that explores the world of local government in Massachusetts, offering insights and a window into the personalities who make the work happen.

The show will cover the major issues of the day, as well as leadership lessons from innovators and experts who are leading the Commonwealth forward and working to make it stronger.

“We really want to dig into issues, but also bring forward the personalities of people who bring passion, energy and thoughtfulness to their work in public service,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine, who co-hosts the show with Communications Director John Ouellette. “We’d like to make local government in Massachusetts more relatable and understandable.”

Ouellette added, “What makes this Commonwealth what it is — a great place to live and work — is real people doing important work, with an incredible and sustained level of commitment. It’s fascinating to talk with these leaders and find out what drives them.”

The MMA published two episodes today — one with Chapdelaine and Ouellette discussing the MMA’s extensive analysis of the fiscal challenges facing cities and towns, and one with Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

The third episode, an interview with National League of Cities Executive Director Clarence Anthony, will be published on Dec. 23. Subsequent episodes will be published every other week, on Tuesday mornings.

“The 351” — named for the number of cities and towns in Massachusetts, all of which are represented by the MMA — is available on Apple, Spotify and other podcast services, and can be streamed on the MMA website.

The premiere episode focuses on two MMA reports: “A Perfect Storm: Cities and Towns Face Historic Fiscal Pressures,” released in October, and “Navigating the Storm: Charting a Course Toward Fiscal Stability,” released in December. Chapdelaine and Ouellette do a deep dive on the fiscal challenges facing cities and towns as well as MMA policy recommendations that could stabilize municipal finances. The discussion covers the confluence of forces that have led to the current situation, the threat to the fundamental services that all Massachusetts residents rely on every single day, and an MMA package of remedies, led by the call for a substantial infusion of local aid to restore state support to levels experienced before the drastic cuts made during the Great Recession of 2008-2010.

“If you don’t have local public health, if you don’t have local public safety, public works, clean, running water, safe roads, safe streets, you don’t have anything else, right?,” Chapdelaine said on the podcast. “These are the building blocks of society, and we have to make sure we are maintaining this foundation so that all of the other important, exciting stuff that we want to do as a Commonwealth can happen.”

In the second episode, Driscoll highlights what the administration is doing to help communities tackle an onslaught of challenges, the importance of local governments and public service, and the lessons she learned as mayor of Salem that she uses to inform her leadership today.

“We stay really close with our municipal officials, really trying to have our finger on the pulse of like, what are the most challenging issues happening at the local level?,” she said on the podcast. “Because if we don’t have strong cities and towns — that are vibrant and really thriving — then we’re not going to have a strong and vibrant Commonwealth.”

Upcoming episodes will focus on topics such as health care costs, local officials who serve in leadership of the MMA, the Small Town Administrators of Massachusetts group, and the MMA’s Connect 351 conference.

“We really want to cover a lot of ground, to have something for everyone who has a connection to local government in Massachusetts,” Chapdelaine said. “We hope our members enjoy it, and we look forward to getting their feedback.”

The podcast is produced by Dooe Diligence Media, with sound engineering by Nick Crnko and production assistance from the MMA’s Meredith Gabrilska and Ella Coste.

Written by John Ouellette, Senior Executive and Director of Communications