Mayor Walsh Adds More New Faces To His Administration

AP Photo

Mayor Marty Walsh wasted no time getting acclimated to his digs at City Hall, organizing his desk, and putting some fresh faces into administrative roles during his first day on the job.

Walsh appeared for one of his first big press conferences as mayor, in front of a flood of cameras on Tuesday, and introduced six new members to his team, including Joyce Linehan as Chief of Policy. On top of that, in a later press release, Walsh picked the city’s newest Police Commissioner, former Superintendent William Evans, a 31-year veteran of the police force.

“This is a team of talented, dedicated people who are committed to public service and to Boston,” said Walsh. “Each individual brings practical experience and fresh, innovative ideas to this Administration, and I know we are all eager to get started.”

An earlier announced added four key members of his team, including a Chief of Staff and Chief of Health and Human Services.

There are still numerous vacant positions that need to be filled, but Walsh suspects those will come on a rolling basis, and may even spill over to decisions being made as late as this summer.

Joseph Rull
Chief of Operations

Rull will work closely with Walsh overseeing personnel and labor functions, intergovernmental relations, and neighborhood services, according to a press release from the mayor’s office. Rull and Walsh aren’t strangers—Rull spent time as the mayor’s senior adviser on the campaign trail and during the changeover at City Hall. Rull has also served as the Commonwealth in the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, and in the Executive Office of Labor and Workplace Development. Working at Government Center won’t be new for Rull, either. He did some advising for former Mayor Tom Menino, and squeezed in four years of community engagement on a smaller level as the neighborhood liaison to South Boston in the Office of Neighborhood Services.

Eugene L. O’Flaherty
Corporation Counsel

State Representative Eugene O’Flaherty, D-Chelsea, is in his ninth term in the House of Representatives, where he serves as the House Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Walsh said he has been a “staunch advocate” for the legal community since he was first appointed to that role on the committee in 2002. With a B.S. from Suffolk University, and a J.D. from the Massachusetts School of Law, O’Flaherty has held federal bar since 1994 in the law sector. He is a practicing lawyer and a partner in the law firm of O’Donovan, Dwyer & O’Flaherty, P.C.

Trinh T. Nguyen
Interim Director, Office of Jobs and Community Service

For now, Nguyen will be in charge of the office’s initiative to push for learning, job training and placement, and support services to help residents get educated and find work. Nguyen served as Chief of Staff at the Boston Housing Authority, where she was involved in developing operational program, and making sure certain strategic goals and objectives came to fruition. For three years, until 2010, Nguyen as Vice President of Development for the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, a non-profit organization that sets up service programs for African Americans and other residents of color in the state. She has also served in roles such as Director of Development & Public Relations at the Boston Women’s Fund and Resource Development Manager in the Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians, according to Walsh.

Keith Williams
Interim Director, Office of Small & Local Business Enterprise

Williams will be tasked with promoting and connecting small business owners to the right city resources, and fulfilling the Boston Residents Jobs Policy. Currently, he serves as Associate Director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, where he is responsible for supervising a staff of 20 neighborhood coordinators, according to Walsh’s office. A former member of the Boston City Council, and a Dorchester native, he also brings with him some insight when it comes to emergency response and preparedness.

Alejandra St.Guillen, Interim Director
Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians

When newcomers crop up in the city, they will need a place to go. St. Guillen will make sure that happens in this interim position, which aims to provide opportunity, access, and equality for immigrants, and highlight the contributions and essential role immigrants have played and continue to play in making Boston the world class city that it is, Walsh said in a statement. With experience working with people from the Latino community, and helping to shape policy initiatives, education reform, and electoral reform, St. Guillen will continue to help make connections between City Hall and minority groups.