Welcoming the new Mayor of Chelmsford

At an official ceremony at the Full Council Meeting on Wednesday 22 May, Councillor Bob Massey and his friend Janice Cheese began their term as Mayor and Mayoress of Chelmsford for 2019 – 20.

Bob was born in Billericay and attended school in Romford. After living in Sheffield for ten years, he returned to Essex, settling in South Woodham Ferrers in 1986.

Since 1988, he has served the South Woodham Ferrers Town Council and was proud to be first elected as a Chelmsford Borough councillor for the South Woodham Ferrers Chetwood and Collingwood ward in 2011.

In 2015, Bob was re-elected as a City Councillor and then appointed as Cabinet Member for Parks, a role he cherished and recently expanded to include bereavement services.

In 2017, he was elected to represent the residents of South Woodham Ferrers at Essex County Council which he said, enabled him to provide a ‘one stop’ service to residents.

Outside his various Council activities, Bob had a varied career in Information Technology and Information Security. He still considers himself a bit of a ‘geek’, spending perhaps too much time online, and is often an early adopter of new technology.

Offline, he’s a keen supporter of the South Woodham Ferrers Park Run and can be found most Saturday mornings standing on the sea wall at what has now been named “Bob’s Hill”.

Supporting Bob during his Mayoral year and acting as Mayoress, is Janice Cheese. Janice’s late husband, Jon, served on South Woodham Ferrers Town Council for many years, and he and Bob were firm friends.

In 2016, Bob lost his wife of over thirty years to an aggressive form of cancer, but she had been – as he describes it – ‘in the foothills of Parkinson’s disease’ for several years. Accordingly, Bob has chosen Parkinson’s UK (Chelmsford branch) to be the chosen charity for his year in office and the theme for his year in term will be ‘Overcoming Adversity’.

On his election as Mayor of Chelmsford, Councillor Bob Massey, said “It’s a tremendous honour to be elected Mayor. I look forward to representing the people of our great City in the coming twelve months, and to meeting as many of the residents as I can.”

The Mayor appointed Councillor Janette Potter to be his deputy and she will be supported by Gillian Smith, as her Escort.

If you would like the Mayor or Deputy Mayor to attend a local event, visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/mayor.

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