Banker & Tradesman file photo
Following months of calls from transit advocates to replace members of the MBTA board of directors, Gov. Maura Healey announced early Friday morning that she was replacing the board’s chair and two others appointed by former Gov. Charlie Baker.
Healey named former Massport CEO Tom Glynn as the board’s new chair, replacing Betsy Taylor, and former state Sen. Thomas M. McGee and Rockland Trust Vice President Eric L. Goodwine to replace Mary Beth Mello and Scott Darling. Healey also reappointed labor leader Robert Butler, another Baker appointee. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, the MBTA Advisory Board’s designee, nor real estate broker and consultant Chanda Smart will continue to serve out their terms, Healey’s office said.
Taylor was a member of the MassDOT board of directors before her appointment to the T’s board. Mello is a transportation consultant and a former Federal Transit Administration regional executive, where she oversaw federal funding directed to the Green Line Extension. Darling is the former top safety executive at the Chicago Transit Authority and the former deputy chief of staff and assistant general counsel at the MBTA.
In addition to his long tenure at Massport, Glynn was the MBTA general manager under former Gov. Mike Dukakis in the 1980s and co-chaired the Healey administration’s transportation-focused transition team. McGee is a former mayor of Lynn and co-chaired the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation from 2011 to 2018. Goodwine is Rockland Trust’s commercial loan officer for the Worcester area.
The whole board had become targets of transit advocates’ and riders’ ire in the latter days of the Baker administration due to what they characterized as a “hands-off” attitude towards a transit system that was clearly coming apart.
“Please excuse my bluntness: this board is failing riders, full stop,” TransitMatters Executive Director Jarred Johnson said at last month’s T board meeting. “I appreciate and understand the amount of time you all have given over the past year and a half, and I know this is not easy. However, neither is being a T rider these days. The system is in crisis, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t know that by watching a board meeting.”
But Taylor in particular had drawn fire from Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jim Rooney, himself a former MBTA general manager, for declaring that the agency’s low ridership represented a “new normal” instead of a result of unreliable and slow service.
For his part, Rooney issued a statement Friday morning praising Healey’s picks.
“While there are years of work to do, Governor Healey has taken large steps forward over the past month to rebuild public confidence in the T with the appointment of Phillip Eng as GM and now these board appointments. The incoming board chair, Tom Glynn, is truly an asset in the Commonwealth, and he is once again stepping up to take on a challenging and complex task. The appointments of Tom Glynn as chair and Tom McGee, two Massachusetts transportation experts who understand the role of the T in our economy and the need for urgency, along with Eric Goodwine, an experienced finance professional, is the perfect infusion of leadership and skills needed in this moment,” Rooney said.
Statements from senior administration officials issued along with the personnel announcement sought to characterize Friday’s personnel moves as a response to those demands for a more active board.
“I am excited to return to the MBTA in a different capacity but with the same goal – to deliver the world-class service that millions of MBTA riders need and deserve,” Glynn said in a statement provided by the Healey administration. “It’s time that the MBTA Board takes on the sense of urgency that this crisis demands. We can’t settle for the status quo – we need bold action to meet this moment and address the challenges facing the T right now. I’m thankful for the Healey-Driscoll Administration for this opportunity to serve and deliver for Massachusetts, and I’m looking forward to working alongside the incredible team they’ve put together.”
“The MBTA Board serves as a vital point of oversight for our metro region public transit system, and I’m pleased to welcome these leaders as we work to rebuild safety, trust, and reliability across the MBTA,” Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca, herself a T board member ex officio, said in a statement. “Together with the Healey-Driscoll Administration and General Manager Eng, these MBTA Board members will guide a renewed focus on supporting the levels of safety and service our customers and employees deserve. I look forward to working with the Board members going forward to achieve our shared goals and thank previous Board members for their service.”
“We’re proud of the diverse group of experts we’ve appointed who come from the worlds of transportation, government, finance, business and labor,” Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a statement. “We are confident that they will bring urgency and action necessary to make changes and help us move forward.”
For her part, Healey said in a short statement that she was “confident that each [of her new appointees] will focus on ensuring the highest level of safety and service that the people of Massachusetts deserve” and thanked Taylor, Darling and Mello for their time on the board.
