November 18th, 2022 | By James Sanna, Banker and Tradesman
A pair of prominent housing advocates and a leader in a prolific Boston development firm will lead the effort to get incoming Gov. Maura Healey’s housing policy initiatives up and running.
Healey’s campaign announced that its transition committee focused on “abundant, affordable housing” would be helmed by:
- Alisa Magnotta, President and CEO of Hyannis-based Housing Assistance Corp.
- Keith Fairey, President and CEO of Springfield-based Way Finders
- Stephen Davis, Co-President – Davis
The Housing Assistance Corp. develops affordable housing, provides services for individuals on Cape Cod experiencing homelessness, offers housing counseling for Cape residents and advocates for better housing policies in the region. Way Finders provides similar services for the Springfield area. HAC was a leading member of a coalition of real estate industry figures, Cape residents and advocates who convinced many Cape towns to liberalize zoning for or outright legalize accessory dwelling units over the last five years.
Davis is a prominent commercial real estate developer around the Greater Boston area and beyond, and is an important player in the region’s life science real estate boom.
“The goal of this transition is to support and build a talented team that’s prepared to begin to deliver for people on day one. Governor-elect Healey and I are excited to be building out our transition committees that will guide this process, in addition to other important work we will be doing over the coming weeks,” Lieutenant Governor-elect and Transition Chair Kim Driscoll said in a statement. “Our team is working hard and continuing to engage the public by reviewing the ideas submitted to us and gathering applications from those interested in joining our administration.”
As mayor of Salem, Driscoll was a prominent voice advocating for more housing production and Healey has specifically called out the state’s high cost of housing as a threat to its economy.
The Healey campaign also named the co-chairs for committees overseeing youth and education policy, economic development, health and public safety and transportation.
The economic development co-chairs will be Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger, Massachusetts Business Roundtable President and CEO JD Chesloff, Berkshire Black Economic Council President and Executive Director A.J. Enchill and Massachusetts AFL-CIO Chief of Staff Chrissy Lynch.
The transportation team will be lead by former MBTA board vice chair and 128 Business Council Executive Director Monica Tibbits-Nutt and former Massport CEO Tom Glynn.
Transition team leaders are charged with ensuring the incoming administration is up to speed with all the initiatives and policy efforts of the outgoing administration. They also have an opportunity to influence the incoming administration’s policy, including by helping select or vet appointees for top posts at the state’s various departments, but unless they go on to be selected for top posts in the administration they don’t always get the opportunity to influence a gubernatorial administration on an ongoing basis.
Massachusetts Governor-elect Healey announces 15-member transition team
November 18th, 2022| By Samantha J. Gross Globe Staff
Ten days after her historic win, Governor-elect Maura Healey announced her 15-member transition team as she prepares to take office in January.
The Cambridge Democrat, who won the Nov. 8 election by a landslide, announced Friday a transition team that includes former state transportation leaders, community advocates, business and nonprofit leaders, and a former White House official.
She had previously announced that Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, the lieutenant governor-elect, will chair the transition.
The team had also launched a website to solicit applications from those who wish to serve in the administration as well as offer the public a chance to weigh in on what an incoming Healey administration should prioritize.
Over 550 people have already submitted applications to work with the ncoming administration, Healey spokeswoman Karissa Hand said.
The transition will be led by Danielle Cerny, a former legislative aide and aide to former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo. Cerny is a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she has focused on transitioning newly elected mayors and governors.
According to her LinkedIn, she had advised on transition plans for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, among others.
“The goal of this transition is to support and build a talented team that’s prepared to begin to deliver for people on day one,” Driscoll wrote in a statement. “Governor-elect Healey and I are excited to be building out our transition committees that will guide this process, in addition to other important work we will be doing over the coming weeks.”
In addition to announcing the transition hires Friday, Healey’s campaign also formed a fundraising committee for her Jan. 5 inauguration.
Here are the Healey-Driscoll transition team members, who are split into six committees:
The transportation committee will be chaired by Thomas Glynn and Monica G. Tibbits-Nutt.
Glynn is a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, a former general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and former CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority.
Tibbits-Nutt is the executive director of the 128 Business Council, an organization that offers shuttle services throughout Western Massachusetts. She also served on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board of directors and as the vice chair of the Fiscal Management and Control Board, which oversaw the MBTA from 2015 to 2021.
The housing committee will be chaired by Alisa Magnotta, CEO of Cape Cod’s Housing Assistance Corporation, Keith Fairey, CEO of Springfield-based Way Finders, and Boston real estate developer Stephen Davis, Co-President at Davis.
The climate committee will be chaired by the White House’s former national climate advisor Gina McCarthy and Lizzi Weyant.
McCarthy is a Massachusetts native who led the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration. Weyant helps lead the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a regional planning agency that serves the Boston area.
Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger, business leaders A.J. Enchill and JD Chesloff, and union leader Chrissy Lynch will lead the jobs committee.
Enchill leads the Berkshire Black Economic Council and has served as has served as a legislative aide to state Senator Adam Hinds, a Pittsfield Democrat. Chesloff is the executive director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and is also a former State House staffer, having served as chief of staff to the House Committee on Commerce and Labor, as an education issues analyst, and as a deputy budget director for the House Committee on Ways and Means. Lynch is the chief of staff of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO
The committee focusing on youth and adults will be led by Worcester PublicSchools Superintendent Rachel H. Monárrez and Amanda Fernandez, CEO and founder of Latinos for Education.
The health committee will be chaired by Michael A. Curry, CEO of Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and Aisha E. Miller, vice president of real estate firm Related Beal. Miller is a former legislative aide and cabinet member under former Mayor Martin J. Walsh.