Katie King Receives Warm Welcome

July 23, 2025
• In her first official Select Board meeting as town manager, Katie King talked members through potential state funding threats and local updates.

The first order of business at Tuesday’s Select Board meeting was a ceremonial swearing-in of Needham’s new Town Manager Katie King.

Standing beside the flag, with her husband and sister present, King held up her right hand and recited the oath of office before Town Clerk Louise Miller. King pledged, in part, to “faithfully discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as the town manager for the Town of Needham, fairly and impartially.”

She received a round of applause and standing ovation.

King becomes only Needham’s second town manager following her predecessor Kate Fitzpatrick, who stepped down from the role after 20 years. King joined Needham as deputy town manager in 2020 and was promoted in early April. She was officially sworn into her new role on July 3.

King’s career, upon her own reflection, has been marked by “major government transitions.” A year into her stint working for the City of Boston, longtime Mayor Tom Menino announced he would step down, prompting King and her colleagues to prepare for the incoming Marty Walsh administration.

“So here I am, following 35 [total] years of service that Kate had and Needham’s first town manager,” King said. “But I have to say, on observation from my experience previously and over the last of couple weeks, the thing that makes transitions, I think, possible in government is the staff.”

King thanked a filled room of town employees, who she said have provided support and guidance in “helping me get up to speed.”

Later in the meeting, King led board members through a number of agenda items, including preliminary items on the October Special Town Meeting warrant — namely funding for the MBTA quiet zone construction — and updates to the board’s list of goals prior to their retreat this weekend.

King’s office, following approval from the board, will also draft a letter to Needham’s state lawmakers to express opposition to potential mid-year funding cuts Gov. Maura Healey could make. Healey’s supplemental FY26 budget, now awaiting action, would grant the governor the authority to make unilateral cuts from anywhere in the budget without legislative approval, which could severely impact Needham.

“Obviously, state aid is a huge part of our operating budget. We’re talking about for FY26, so this was the budget approved at the last Annual Town Meeting that we’re in the middle of now,” King said. “And it’s particularly destabilizing to not know if we will have local aid, and it’s our second largest source of revenue, second to property taxes.”

Those cuts would only happen should the state hit at least a $400 million shortfall or if changes at the federal level cost the state’s budget $400 million or more. King said the Massachusetts Municipal Association alerted communities to the possible cuts.

The town also relaunched its small repair grant program, which allows for certain households to receive up to $7,000 for home repairs. To qualify, households must include a person with a disability or someone 60 years or older, and they must meet income requirements.

King concluded her remarks with a plug for the Needham Free Public Library’s summer reading program, which she said “is booming” with 1,000 kids signed up. “This is the talk of the library,” she said.

With that, she wrapped up her first report. At the top of the meeting, she expressed her excitement in getting started.

“We have a lot ahead of us this year, and I look forward to diving in,” she said. “We’re already diving in.”