Healey, Driscoll begin rapid transition process

Immediately following her victory, Gov.-elect Maura Healey got to work to build her team and begin a rapid transition process to the next administration.

On Nov. 9, she announced that her running mate and current mayor of Salem, Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Driscoll, will serve as chair of her transition committee. Driscoll’s experience in local government runs deep. She has served as mayor since 2006, and she previously served on the City Council and worked as a deputy city manager in Chelsea for five years. She has been an active member of the Massachusetts Mayors Association, and served as its president in 2012.

In recent weeks, the transition committee has announced key policy committees, focused on issues such as transportation infrastructure, housing, climate change, jobs and the economy, youth and young adults, and safe and healthy communities. The committees will work to identify a “timeline for action, resources to leverage, and metrics to measure effectiveness.”

To coordinate the work of these committees, Danielle Cerny was named as the transition director. She previously served as a visiting fellow at the Rappaport Institute and recently interviewed outgoing Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito at an event discussing the successes and strategies in state-local government relations during the Baker administration’s tenure, the focus of a report written by Cerny.

As the transition work continues, the days leading up to the inauguration on Jan. 5 are expected to feature a flurry of announcements related to key posts in the new administration, including cabinet secretaries and other key staff who will prove critical to tackling the new administration’s policy priorities.

Healey is scheduled to address local officials two weeks after her inauguration, during the MMA Annual Meeting & Trade Show on Jan. 20.

Due to the change in administrations, the incoming governor is granted an additional five weeks to file her first state budget proposal, which is due on March 1.