Mayor Wu Announces New Staff to Improve Access to City Services and Transparency

Mayor Wu today announced new leadership to manage key constituent-facing departments, to improve efficiency in the delivery of city services and to better manage public records requests received by the city. Paul Chong will serve in a newly created role as the Commissioner of City Records. In this new capacity, Chong will be responsible for overseeing the Registry for Birth, Death, and Marriages; the Public Records Department; and the Office of the Parking Clerk. Grace Jung will support Chong as the Chief of Staff for City Records, and Mia Capone will be joining the Office of the Parking Clerk in a newly created role as the Director of Parking and Curbside Management. This is a key step to creating exceptional basic city services for Boston residents.

“For Boston to be a home for everyone, we want every interaction with City government to be welcoming and efficient—whether residents are applying for a parking permit, getting married, or requesting public records,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Paul has demonstrated his dedication and determination to serve every constituent and improve our processes. I’m grateful that Paul, alongside Mia and Grace, will deliver the best experience possible for our residents.” 

Prior to being appointed the Commissioner of City Records, Chong led the Registry Division, which issues more than 100,000 copies of vital records to residents each year. Since Chong became registrar in January of 2023, the City has made significant improvements to records access. The average wait times for birth certificates and marriage licenses are down by nearly 50 percent, and the visits needed to City Hall for these services have been reduced. Under Mayor Wu and Chong’s leadership, last year Boston became the first city in the Commonwealth to remove gender identification from marriage licenses. Chong will continue to serve as the City Registrar in his new role. Chong, a resident of West Roxbury where he lives with his wife and two children, is a graduate of Northeastern University and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

“I’m honored to support the Mayor’s vision and work alongside an extremely talented team,” said Commissioner of City Records Paul Chong. “I believe deeply in transparency and good government and am committed to continuous improvement of the City’s operations.” 

Jung, the new Chief of Staff for City Records, will focus on building staff capacity and implementing service improvements. Jung brings eight and a half years of experience in various roles in the Boston Public Schools, including Director of Training and School Support in the Office of Equity. Across roles, Jung worked to prevent and address bias-based conduct and sexual misconduct, including coaching of school administrators and conducting training on district policies. Jung is a graduate of Northeastern University and currently attends Northeastern University School of Law.

“I am excited to support the Registry, Office of the Parking Clerk, and Public Records team,”  said Chief of Staff for City Records Grace Jung. “I look forward to working with these essential city services to improve processes and procedures and develop policies that improve the lives of our constituents.”

“Grace brings tremendous leadership and deep experience working in the public sector, and we are thrilled to have her as part of the team,” said Alex Lawrence, Chief of People Operations. “She will help us implement system changes and build capacity for the City to operate more effectively.”  

As the Director of Parking and Curbside Management, Mia Capone will lead a department that responds to several public-facing city streets needs. These include parking tickets, determining parking disputes, collecting parking fines, and the issuing of moving permits and resident parking permits.

“Parking availability and how curbsides are utilized have an enormous impact on how residents, businesses, and visitors experience a city,” said Director of Parking and Curbside Management Mia Capone. “I look forward to engaging closely with stakeholders and staff to modernize parking and permitting processes and policies so we can better meet Boston’s parking needs of today and plan for an accessible and sustainable future.” 

“The Office of the Parking Clerk is a critical part of the Streets Cabinet and the Boston Transportation Department,” said Nick Gove, Commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department. “Mia will ensure that Boston continues to build a world class curbside experience and provide innovative leadership in improving our services.” 

Capone joins the City of Boston from the Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she led work to transform the City of Syracuse's procurement systems to be more data-driven, efficient, and fair, resulting in increased opportunities for local and diverse businesses and improved delivery of contracted services to constituents. Capone has nationwide and international experience working with municipal governments and leading complex project teams to improve government operations and the delivery of services to diverse communities, with a focus on equitable impact and sustainability. Capone is a graduate of Harvard University.