The Last Four Mayors Took down a City

Chelsea, Massachusetts holds a unique American distinction: four consecutive mayors-Joel Pressman, James Mitchell, Thomas Nolan, and John Brennan-were brought to justice for leading a city into the ground. Only Newark and Atlantic City compare in municipal misconduct. In The Last Four Mayors, the fourth volume of The Chelsea Series, writer Josh Resnek and documentary photographer Arnie Jarmak revisit this sordid era. They detail how these leaders broke their promises, enriched themselves with bribes, and brought the city to bankruptcy. The corruption grew so severe that public servants went unpaid, forcing the state of Massachusetts to suspend local government and take over receivership. Through stunning black and white photographs and firsthand narrative, Resnek and Jarmak offer an honest testimony of a compromised era and the results of the FBI investigation that brought it to a crashing halt.