GREENFIELD — Communications Director Jonathon Weber has been tapped to serve as Greenfield’s next chief of staff.
Weber, who has worked for the city since July 2025, said he has taken on many of the duties of the chief of staff following the departure of Erin Anhalt earlier this month, and he is looking forward to learning more about the role and working with other department heads.
Anhalt’s last day in City Hall was Oct. 16. According to Anhalt, she “did not resign” from her position, but declined to speak further on the matter. Weber has said the city cannot comment on the details of Anhalt’s departure as it is a personnel matter.
“I’ve picked up a lot of the duties two weeks ago following Erin’s departure,” Weber said in a phone interview on Friday. “Right off the bat is learning, interacting with department heads and learning what they need to be supported by the chief of staff.”
“The chief of staff is a collaborator and strategic partner to the mayor, and must be highly organized, proactive and adaptable,” Mayor Ginny Desorgher said in a statement on Friday. “Jonathon is the natural choice. He’s worked with every department in the city and has proven himself to be an effective partner to each. He’s demonstrated his ability to drive strategic change through his work on Greenfield’s new Branding and Style Guide. His leadership of our [Americans with Disabilities Act] Title II transition has shown his capacity to develop and implement policies and procedures while bringing staff together to make progress on important projects.”
Weber holds a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature from the University of Vermont, and this past spring, he started working part-time toward a master’s degree in policy and public administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before being hired in Greenfield, Weber spent seven years with Local Motion, a nonprofit dedicated to making bicycling safe and accessible in Vermont.
He said his first priority will be fully learning the role of chief of staff, but longer-term plans include looking at how he can improve city policies and procedures, particularly around communications and transparency. Similarly, he said he wants to ensure information and documentation of city business is accessible to the public.
Weber explained that one thing he’s learned about Greenfield in the almost year and a half he’s worked with the city as communications director is that residents value knowing what is going on inside City Hall, and how decisions are made on the city’s behalf.
“I think the thing that’s impressed me most about Greenfield is just how engaged everyone is,” Weber said. “That’s something I love about Greenfield.”
As communications director, he said he’s enjoyed talking with residents and directing them in how they can find information on the city website. He added that as chief of staff, he would maintain his commitment to communicating with the public.
“My favorite part of my job as communications director is interacting with the public. … That approach is something that I will maintain as chief of staff,” he said.
Weber said he welcomes calls and emails from residents. He can be reached at jonathon.weber@greenfield-ma.gov or 413-244-0007.
According to the city budget book, $73,945 was allocated for the chief of staff position for fiscal year 2027. The job description posted to the city website states that the chief of staff is the main liaison between the Mayor’s Office and other city departments, as well as with state and federal officials. The chief of staff is responsible for ensuring that staff members carry out the mayor’s goals for constituent service, legislative action, economic development and overall community development; conducting research and analysis on a wide range of issues and topics affecting the city; and providing recommendations and possible solutions to the mayor.
Weber noted he was involved in the budget process last year through the creation of the budget book, and he looks forward to being more deeply involved in the process, particularly in ensuring the document aligns with the city’s branding guidelines.
“I’m looking forward to being more engaged in that process,” Weber said. “One big difference this year is that document needs to be ADA-compliant.”
He added that he will also be overseeing the website updates that the city will be undergoing shortly.
The city is seeking a new communications director to replace Weber. He said the position has not been posted yet, but he expects it to be posted sometime in the next week at greenfield-ma.gov/departments/human_resources/job_openings.php.
