Annual Council Meeting

MAPC’s Annual Council Meeting, held May 28, 2014, was an occasion for transitions, for well-deserved awards, and for engaging discussion about the agency’s plans for the next five years.

Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly, recipient of MAPC's 2014 Legislator of the Year Award. MAPC Annual Meeting, May 28, 2014, Newton Mass. Courtesy Marilyn Humphries. — *Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly, recipient of MAPC’s 2014 Legislator of the Year Award. MAPC Annual Meeting, May 28, 2014, Newton Mass. Courtesy Marilyn Humphries.*

The first order of business was to present Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly and Representative Stephen Kulik with MAPC’s Legislator of the Year Award.

Senator Donnelly has served the 4th Middlesex District — Arlington, Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, and Woburn — since 2009. He is the Senate Chairman of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. He has been a consistently strong supporter of transportation and MBTA funding, and was instrumental in the crafting and passage of municipal healthcare reform.

Representative Kulik has, since 1992, represented the First Franklin District, which consists of 16 small communities located beyond MAPC’s region. He is the Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means. A leading House sponsor of zoning reform legislation, Representative Kulik has worked tirelessly on this issue this session. He has also been a strong advocate for District Local Technical Assistance, municipal healthcare reform, and transportation funding.

Representative Stephen Kulik, who could not be present at the MAPC Annual Meeting because the Legislature was in session, receiving the MAPC 2014 Legislator of the Year Award from MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen on June 3, 2014, Boston, Mass. Staff photo. — Representative Stephen Kulik, who could not attend the MAPC Annual Meeting because the Legislature was in session, receiving the MAPC 2014 Legislator of the Year Award from MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen on June 3, 2014, Boston, Mass. Staff photo.

All of us at MAPC offer Senator Donnelly and Representative Kulik our congratulations and our warmest thanks for their stellar work on behalf of their districts and the Commonwealth as a whole.

Newton North senior Jacob Shore was awarded the Charles Eliot Scholarship for 2014. On hand to offer congratulations were Lawrence Eliot, an educator in Ipswich and the son of Charles Eliot, the scholarship’s namesake; and former Wenham Selectman Harriet Davis. Congratulations and good luck in the future, Jacob!

MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen gave Awards of Appreciation to Michelle Ciccolo and Marilyn Contreas, whose terms as MAPC President and Secretary, respectively, came to a close on the election of new officers at the meeting.

Michelle Ciccolo was honored for three years of service as President of MAPC and for her previous service on the MAPC Executive Board and Council. Ms. Ciccolo is on Lexington’s Board of Selectmen and is the Town of Hudson’s Community Development Director.

MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen with outgoing MAPC President Michelle Ciccolo, MAPC Annual Meeting, May 28, 2014, Newton, Mass. Courtesy Marilyn Humphries.

Marilyn Contreas was honored for her service as Secretary from 2008. She is a Senior Program and Policy Analyst at Mass Department of Housing and Community Development.

(l to r) Former MAPC President Michelle Ciccolo, MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen, Former Wenham Selectman Harriet Davis, Charles Eliot Scholarship Winner Jacob Shore, Ipswich educator Lawrence Eliot, MAPC Human Resources Manager Thomas Hauenstein. MAPC Annual Council Meeting, May 28, 2014, Newton, Mass. Courtesy Marilyn Humphries.

MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen with outgoing MAPC Secretary Marilyn Contreas, MAPC Annual Meeting, May 28, 2014, Newton Mass. Courtesy Marilyn Humphries.

Much of the meeting was devoted to a working session for MAPC’s strategic plan, the creation of which is currently underway. Participants discussed MAPC today, heard a brief overview of the MAPC Regional Plan, MetroFuture, and discussed what MAPC’s top priorities should be for the coming five years.

In that spirit of looking to the future, the Council elected its new officers. MAPC’s new President will be Lynn Duncan. Ms. Duncan is the Director of the Department of Planning and Community Development in the City of Salem. Keith Bergman, Town Administrator of the Town of Littleton, will be MAPC’s new Vice President. The newly-elected MAPC Secretary is Shirronda Almeida, a gubernatorial appointee to the MAPC Council and Director of Membership Initiatives at the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations. Taber Keally was elected to another term as MAPC’s Treasurer. Mr. Keally, a representative from Milton, has been MAPC’s Treasurer since 2011.

MAPC President Lynn Duncan, MAPC Treasurer Taber Keally, MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen, MAPC Vice President Keith Bergman, MAPC Annual Meeting, May 28, 2014, Newton Mass. Courtesy Marilyn Humphries.