TBF Housing Resource Library  Special Reports Chapter 40R School Cost Analysis and Proposed Smart Growth School Cost Insurance Supplement.  Click the cover to download a pdf copy of this report containing recommendations from the Commonwealth Housing Task Force. "Building Our Heritage: A Housing Strategy for Smart Growth and Economic Development," Nov. 2003.  Click the cover to learn more about the report or download a copy. Report Cards The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2002 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2003 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2004 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2005 - 2006 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2006 - 2007 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2008 The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2009 Slide Presentations The 2002 Housing Report Card The 2003 Housing Report Card The 2004 Housing Report Card The 2005 - 2006 Housing Report Card The 2006 - 2007 Housing Report Card The 2008 Housing Report Card The 2009 Housing Report Card

 

CHTF Leader Biographies

Biographies are provided for Paul S. Grogan, the convener of the CHTF; CHTF co-chairs Lawrence S. DiCara, Jerry Rappaport, Jr., Robert E. Smyth and Eleanor White; and the core leaders Robert Beal, Barry Bluestone, Ted Carman, Paul Guzzi and Mary Jo Meisner.

The CHTF engaged the Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP) at Northeastern University to prepare a detailed report with specific recommendations for the program that eventually became Chapter 40R.  Eleanor White and Ted Carman were engaged to work with Barry Bluestone, director of CURP, to conduct the research and write the report, "Building on Our Heritage: A Housing Strategy for Smart Growth and Economic Development," which was issued in October 2003. Since issuance of the report, Barry Bluestone, Ted Carman, and Eleanor White (along with the CHTF co-chairs) have taken the lead in coordinating the passage of 40R legislation, assisting in drafting the 40R regulations, working with the state to analyze the effect of school costs on zoning and housing development, and coordinating outreach and information dissemination to municipalities throughout Massachusetts.

Paul S. Grogan

On July 1, 2001, Paul S. Grogan joined the Boston Foundation as its new President and CEO. He came to the Foundation from Harvard University, where from 1999 to 2001, he was Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs.

From 1986 through 1998, Mr. Grogan was President and CEO of the nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s largest community development intermediary. Under his leadership, LISC raised and invested more than $3 billion of private capital in inner city revitalization efforts across the country. The funds were channeled through local nonprofit community development corporations, and resulted in some 80,000 homes for low-income families and nearly 13 million square feet of commercial and community facilities.

Mr. Grogan’s Boston experiences date back to his days serving in the administrations of Mayors Kevin White and Raymond Flynn. He headed Boston’s Neighborhood Development and Employment Agency (now the Department of Neighborhood Development) in the early 80s, pioneering a series of public/private ventures that have provided models of cooperation for other cities. These partnerships have included the [Metropolitan] Boston Housing Partnership, which steers private dollars into the financing of affordable housing; the Boston Compact, a partnership between Boston’s corporate community and the public schools designed to help students stay in school and secure jobs; and the Adult Literacy Initiative.

Currently, Mr. Grogan serves on the boards of several national and local foundations and nonprofit organizations including the Knight Foundation, the Community Development Trust of New York, Williams College, Jobs for Massachusetts and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. He is also founder and volunteer President of CEOs for Cities, a national organization comprised of big city mayors, corporate leaders and university presidents.

Paul Grogan’s vision for the future of the American city is detailed in a book he wrote with Tony Proscio, called  Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival, which was published in 2000. Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times" called the book "arguably the most important book about cities in a generation." Brief excerpts from the book are available by clicking on the title.

Lawrence S. DiCara

Lawrence DiCara practices in real estate and administrative
law and public finance. He has taught at Harvard, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts. Mr. DiCara has extensive experience counseling clients on legislative matters at federal and state levels, providing strategy and advocacy services before the United States Congress. He travels to Washington D.C. frequently to hold meetings with federal government representatives to represent the position of clients on various matters. Mr. DiCara has served as Special Counsel to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1985, 1991, and 2001 with respect to redistricting.

As a member of the Boston City Council and as an attorney in private practice, Larry DiCara has been intimately involved with the development process in Boston for over thirty years.  He has represented owners and developers before the Boston Redevelopment Authority and most every other city and state agency.

Education
University of Massachusetts, L.L.D. (Hon.) (1996)
JFK School of Government, Harvard University, M.P.A. (1977)
Suffolk University Law School, J.D. (1976)
Harvard College, A.B. (1971)

Admissions
Admitted to practice before the District Court of Massachusetts, the Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Affiliations
Mr. DiCara is a former member and president of the Boston City Council and has served as a member of the Democratic State Committee for over 30 years.

He serves as a Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Harvard Cooperative Society, and as a Director and Clerk of the Artery Business Committee. He also serves as a Director of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and as a Trustee of The Boston Public Library Foundation and the Children’s Museum. He is Chairman of the Audit Committee of the City of Boston.

He is former President of the Boston Latin School Association, the Greater Boston Council, Boy Scouts of America and the Boston Theatre District Association, former Treasurer of the Boston Bar Association and a former Trustee of the University of Massachusetts.

Jerry Rappaport, Jr. – President – New Boston Fund, Inc.

Mr. Rappaport is responsible for the development and implementation of New Boston Fund’s investment strategy, the formulation of the firm’s strategic planning initiatives, and the management of the firm’s day to day business operations. He is responsible for reviewing and approving all of the major transactions of the company, and oversees equity raising and investor relations. Mr. Rappaport has over 20 years of real estate investment experience and has overseen over $1.5 billion of real estate investments and developments. Mr. Rappaport has served in senior roles with the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, NAIOP's Boston Chapter, and the ULI, and is also a member of the Rental Housing Association, BOMA, and REFA. Mr. Rappaport is a graduate of Harvard College, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

New Boston Fund, Inc.
New Boston Fund, Inc. is a premier provider of real estate investment and development services based in Boston. Guided by a disciplined, value-added investment strategy, the firm has consistently achieved industry-leading returns through a combination of market expertise, proactive property and asset management, and an adherence to conservative real estate fundamentals. Through six commingled investment funds, New Boston has acquired and developed over 15 million square feet of office, light industrial, warehouse/distribution, R&D, and residential space valued in excess of $1.5 billion. By co-investing alongside its institutional and high net-worth investors, New Boston Fund’s interests remain closely aligned with those of its clients.

Robert E. Smyth Robert E. Smyth is President and CEO of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts. He is also Chairman of the bank’s insurance agencies, Brewer & Lord and the Feitelberg Company. He joined the bank in June 2002, bringing more than 30 years of banking experience and a commitment to customer service to the state’s second largest commercial bank.

Smyth is responsible for a $28 billion banking enterprise, including 260 branches, more than 600 ATMs, a $10 billion commercial loan portfolio and a staff of 3,700. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts offers a complete set of products and services to commercial, governmental, consumer and small business markets. Citizens Bank carries an "Outstanding" rating by governmental agencies for its community reinvestment activities, is the No. 1 SBA lender in Massachusetts, the No. 1 student loan originator in New England, and is "AA" rated by rating agencies.

Before his promotion to bank President and CEO in May 2004, Smyth was CBM’s Executive Vice President of Commercial Banking, responsible for managing a staff of approximately 300 employees and a portfolio of more than $10 billion in commitments. He was responsible for directing all aspects of Citizens’ commercial banking business, including small business, middle market, large corporate, specialized industries, commercial real estate lending and private banking.

Before joining Citizens, Smyth was regional vice chairman and Northeast U.S. commercial banking executive at Key Bank based in Albany, N.Y., covering New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. Prior to joining Key Bank, Smyth was a senior vice president of Bankers Trust Company in New York City. During his 22-year tenure there, he worked in large corporate, middle-market banking and retail banking, and served as national sales manager for cash management services.

Smyth is a 1971 graduate of Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., where he received an MBA in Management and Finance. He is also a 1968 graduate of Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Md., where he received a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences. Smyth serves on the Board of Directors of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Board of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, and the Board of Visitors of Northeastern University. Smyth also serves on the Board of Overseers of Children’s Hospital Boston, where he is a member of the Finance Committee and the Audit & Compliance Committee. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Jobs for Massachusetts, Inc., a Board of Directors and Executive Committee member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Chief Executives Club of Boston and a member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Economic Club.

He and his wife Ellen live in Boston.

September 2004

Eleanor White

Eleanor White has worked in the fields of affordable housing development, property asset management and public administration since 1967, including (from 1983-1995) as Deputy Director and Chief of Operations of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, directing all activities of this $4.2 billion quasi-public lending institution. Before MHFA, Ms. White held a variety of positions at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington and Boston from 1967-1983.

Currently, Ms. White is President of Housing Partners, Inc., a Boston area-based national housing consulting and asset management firm she formed in 1995 with Marvin Siflinger and Ned Epstein, her colleagues at MHFA. Housing Partners is working with a wide range of public and private-sector clients on topics relating to new housing development, multifamily housing policy and strategic planning, property and asset management, assisted living, and organizational development.

Ms. White holds an A.B. cum laude from Harvard/Radcliffe College, ‘67 (where she remains a very active alumna), a Master of Public Administration from Northeastern University, ‘75, and was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, ’78-‘79.

Ms. White has served and is serving on numerous boards of directors, including the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, the Real Estate Finance Association, the CenterPoint Foundation, the American Jewish Committee, the Harvard Alumni Association, and MassALFA (the assisted living association). Ms. White has served as President of the Mass. Association for Mental Health, and Treasurer of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (and Chaired its Diversity Task Force). She was President of the Board of Citizens Housing and Planning Association 2002-2004, and is currently CoChair of both the MassALFA/CHAPA Statewide Task Force on Affordability in Assisted Living and the Commonwealth Housing Task Force (the most diverse coalition of interests in Massachusetts history to advocate for increased housing production), and is Co-President of the B’nai B’rith Realty Unit in Boston. She has won many awards for excellence in programs of affordable housing and related services,  as well as for her far-reaching contributions to the community, and has lectured extensively at the MIT Center for Real Estate, the MIT Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, the Tufts Dept. of Urban and Environmental Policy, and the Harvard J.F. Kennedy School of Government. She was appointed by Mayor Thomas Menino to membership on the Mayor’s Housing Advisory Group, is Chair of the Boston Foundation’s Housing and Economic Development Policy Committee, and serves on the American Institute of Architects Housing Committee Advisory Circle.

In the Spring of 2000, Ms. White was honored to receive a National Diversity Award from Fannie Mae and Working Mother magazine in recognition of her extensive work over the years on behalf of people of color and women.

She lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with her husband Barry, an attorney; they are the parents of three sons.

Robert Beal

Robert L. Beal, Partner of The Beal Companies and President of The Beal Companies, was a partner and Vice President of The Beacon Companies, investment-builders, from 1965 to 1976. Mr. Beal is a graduate of Harvard College, with honors, and the Harvard School of Business Administration. He joined The Beal Companies, as Vice President after being with The Beacon Companies for 11 years.

Mr. Beal serves as a consultant to various private and publicly-held corporations, foreign investors and lending institutions and is actively involved in developing and appraising real estate of all types.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Member by Invitation, American Society of Real Estate Counselors (1980 - present)
• Director, Chairman (1995 - 1999), Artery Business Committee
• Director, Boston Municipal Research Bureau - Chairman (1994 - 1996)
• Director, Eastern Realty Investment Corporation, a $400 Million English real estate fund (1989 - 1994)
• Director, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce (1992 - present)
• President, Greater Boston Real Estate Board (1978 - 1979)
• Chairman and Director, MassDevelopment (formerly Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency (MIFA)) (1986 – April 2005)
• Director, U.K. - American Properties, Inc., a $300 Million English real estate fund (1983 - 1994)
• Member, Boston Coordinating Committee ("The Vault") (1978 - 1997)

 COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Member of the Corporation, Belmont Hill School (1974 - present)
• Former Overseer and Trustee, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (1981 - 2001)
• Chairman & Trustee, Boston Zoological Society (1981-1986)
• Overseer, The Boy's Club of Boston (1975 - 1993)
• Class Gift Chairman, Harvard College (1973)
• Class Secretary (1963) (2000 - present)
• Member, Harvard University Resources Committee (1989 - present)
• Member, Visiting Committee ¬ Harvard Divinity School (1989 - 1998)
• Member, Dean's Council ¬ Harvard Divinity School (1993 - present)
• Member, Advisory Committee, Taubman Center, Local Government, Kennedy School (1989 - present); Chair (2003 to present)
• Board of Overseers, MA Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) (1988 - present), Chairman, Council of Fellows (1999 - present)
• Board of Overseers, Museum of Fine Arts Boston (1988 - 1996; 1997 - present)
• Member, National Trust for Historic Preservation (1998 - present)
• Trustee and Member Executive Committee, New England Aquarium (1987 - present)
• Instructor & Lecturer of Real Estate, Northeastern University (1969 - 75)
• Co-Founder, Ripon Society
• Chairman, Leadership Gifts, United Way of Massachusetts Bay (1989)
• Alexis de Tocqueville Society, Member of Cabinet and Co-chair (2000 - present)
• Co-chair 2003 United Way Campaign
• Combined Jewish Philanthropies -- Director since 1988 and Chair as of 2004

Barry Bluestone 

Barry Bluestone is the Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy and director of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Before assuming this new post, Bluestone spent twelve years at the University of Massachusetts at Boston as the Frank L. Boyden Professor of Political Economy and as a Senior Fellow at the University's John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs. He was the founding director of U.Mass.-Boston's Ph.D. Program in Public Policy. Before coming to U.Mass. in the Fall of 1986, he taught economics at Boston College for fifteen years and was director of the University's Social Welfare Research Institute. Professor Bluestone was raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan where he received his Ph.D. in 1974.

On partial leave from U.Mass.-Boston in 1995, Bluestone served as a member of the senior policy staff of Congressman Richard Gephardt, the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

As a political economist, Bluestone has written widely in the areas of income distribution, business and industrial policy, labor-management relations, higher education finance, and urban and regional economic development. He contributes regularly to academic, as well as popular journals, and is the author of nine books. In 1982, he published The Deindustrialization of America (co-authored with Bennett Harrison of the New School for Social Research) which analyzed the restructuring of American industry and its economic and social impact on workers and communities. A sequel published in 1988, The Great U-Turn: Corporate Restructuring and the Polarizing of America, also co-authored with Harrison, investigated how economic policies have contributed to growing inequality. In earlier books, Bluestone investigated the low-wage labor market, the aircraft industry, and the revolution in the retail trade sector. In 1992, Negotiating the Future: A Labor Perspective on American Business was published. Co-authored with his father, Irving Bluestone, the book traces the history of labor-management relations since World War II and offers the concept of the "Enterprise Compact" as an approach to industrial relations which can boost productivity, improve product quality and innovation, and enhance employment security. As of 1998, Korean, Spanish, and Japanese editions had been published.

Bluestone has just completed two new books. The first of these, co-authored again with Harrison and titled Growing Prosperity: The Battle for Growth with Equity in the 21st Century, investigates the prospects for faster economic growth in the U.S. It was published by Houghton Mifflin and the Twentieth Century Fund in January 2000. The second, The Boston Renaissance: Race, Space, and Economic Change in an American Metropolis, published by the Russell Sage Foundation, is the culmination of nearly five years of research on the new Boston economy. It recounts the industrial and demographic revolution in post-World War II Boston and its impact on racial and ethnic attitudes, residential segregation, and the labor market success of whites, blacks, and Latinos.

As part of his work, Bluestone spends a considerable amount of time consulting with trade unions, with industry groups, and with various federal and state government agencies. He was executive adviser to the Governor's Commission on the Future of Mature Industries in Massachusetts and has worked with the economic development departments of various states. He has testified before Congressional committees and lectures regularly before university, labor, community, and business groups. As a founding member of the Nommos Consulting Group and working with Streamline Communications, he has been involved in the development of multimedia productions and CD-ROMs used in training sessions for labor/management groups and for public school teachers. Bluestone is also a founding member of the Economic Policy Institute, along with Robert Reich, Lester Thurow, Robert Kuttner, Ray Marshall, and Jeff Faux.

In his spare time, he competes in team triathlons as a bicycle racer -- fortunately with a team otherwise comprised of orthopedic surgeons and an internist. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife Mary Ellen Colten and their son Joshua.

Ted Carman, Concord Square Development Company

Ted Carman has spent over 30 years in the real estate business. After college and grad school, he attended the Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and then served on active duty for 4 years on a Newport based destroyer and on the staff at OCS.   His housing career began with the renovation of several historic homes in Newport.    He spent the late 60s and the 70s working for and running non-profit, community development companies in Providence and in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  This work was primarily focused on the development and management of affordable housing, but also involved downtown redevelopment efforts in Pittsfield, and a mill renovation into an arts complex in North Adams that was a precursor to Mass MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Adams.

He moved to Boston in 1980 and since that time has worked in the real estate finance and development fields, primarily focused on market rate housing.  He was the developer of the Exeter Mill in Exeter, NH, and of Holt Hall, in Portland, Maine.  Both provide new market rate rental housing in historic buildings, and both are on the National Register of Historic Places.  He bought and renovated several other apartment buildings during this period, as well as organizing and running a company that managed 1,000 housing units.  He has provided management and development consulting services to housing development companies and other business organizations.  He worked with artist groups to develop live-work loft spaces in the Fort Point and South End sections of Boston.  In 1992 and 1993 he was the Director of Development for Urban Edge, a Community Development Corporation operating in Boston’s Roxbury and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods.  He has been President of Concord Square Development Company since 1995.

In October of 2002 Mr. Carman wrote a paper which served as the basis for the report entitled “Building on our Heritage, A Housing Strategy for Smart Growth and Economic Development” that was issued in October, 2003, by the Commonwealth Housing Task Force.   He was the principal author of this report in conjunction with Eleanor White and Professor Barry Bluestone under the auspices of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy of Northeastern University.  The majority of the report’s recommendations were incorporated in Chapter 40 R of the Massachusetts General Laws, which was passed and signed by the Governor in June, 2004.

Education:
BA: Harvard College, 1963;
MA: University of North Carolina, 1964

December, 2004

Paul Guzzi

Paul Guzzi is president and chief executive officer of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, one of the region’s leading business associations.

Mr. Guzzi brings extensive experience in both business and government to his work at the Chamber. A former Massachusetts secretary of state and chief secretary to the Governor, as well as a member of the management teams of two Fortune 500 companies, he is a leading advocate for economic development and job creation.
Prior to leading the Chamber, Mr. Guzzi was vice president of state and community affairs for Boston College. Previously, he was a consultant for Heidrick & Struggles, an international recruitment and consulting firm. Mr. Guzzi also served as a vice president at Data General Corporation and as a senior vice president at Wang Laboratories. During his tenure at Wang, he worked closely with Dr. An Wang to oversee the restoration and transformation of what is now the Wang Center for the Performing Arts.

Mr. Guzzi began his public service career as a state representative from Newton in 1970. He was elected Massachusetts secretary of state in 1974. Mr. Guzzi has served as a chief of staff for Governor Edward King and chief administrator of the Board of Regents of Public Higher Education.

A graduate of Harvard University, Mr. Guzzi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in government. He completed the Harvard Business School Management Development Program. He was also an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
In addition to his leadership at the Chamber, Mr. Guzzi is co-host of This Week in Business, a weekly television program on NECN.  Mr. Guzzi is also a weekly guest on “On the Record,” a weekly news segment that airs on New England Business Day on NECN.</span>

Among his civic activities, Mr. Guzzi serves as a trustee of the Wang Center for the Performing Arts; is a director of The Boston Foundation, The Partnership, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Edgewater Technology; and is a member of the Partners HealthCare Corporation and The Boston Club’s Corporate Advisory Boards.  He lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with his wife, Joanne, and has three children.

Mary Jo Meisner

Mary Jo Meisner is Vice President for Communications, Community Relations and Public Affairs for the Boston Foundation, which she joined in November 2001.  Ms. Meisner has extensive experience as a newspaper journalist and senior communications executive, most recently as Editor and Vice Chairman of the Community Newspaper Company (CNC) of Needham, Massachusetts, New England’s largest newspaper publisher and one of the largest publishers of daily and weekly newspapers in the United States.  She ran the editorial operations of CNC from May of 1997 to February of 2001, when the company was sold to the Boston Herald. 

From 1993 to 1997, she was Editor of the Journal Sentinel of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a daily circulation of 300,000.  While there, she oversaw the merger of the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel.  Prior to that, Ms. Meisner was Managing Editor of the Fort Worth Star Telegram from 1991 to 1993, and City Editor of the Washington Post from 1987 to 1991.  Ms. Meisner was recruited to The Washington Post from the San Jose Mercury News, where she was Metropolitan Editor from 1985 to 1987. Ms. Meisner began her career as a business and labor union reporter for the Wilmington News Journal, followed by reporting and editing positions at the Philadelphia Daily News.

Ms. Meisner is a member of the International Press Institute and the American Society of Newspaper Editors. She has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror several times and was chair of the 1996 ASNE Writing Awards. In addition, she has taught various writing, editing, ethics, and management courses at the Maynard Institute, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and the American Press Institute.

She is also an active participant in Boston’s civic life, serving on the boards of Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Women’s Health Leadership Forum; the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay; The Greater Boston Food Bank; World Boston; the Topf Center for Dance Education; and ACCESS, a scholarship program of the Boston Plan for Excellence in the Public Schools.  She is an active member of the National Conference of Community and Justice through its Lead Boston program.  She resides in Boston with her son.