The state has hired a new $180,000 per year secretary to go along with its recently minted Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, an invention of Gov. Maura Healey’s split from the Department of Housing and Economic Development.
Former Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus, who was most recently serving as the Chancellor of Dean College, will join the Healey Administration as its newest Cabinet member at the start of June, the governor’s office announced Monday.
According to the governor, Augustus’ work in central Massachusetts developing new housing and his familiarity with local government make him uniquely suited to the role.
“He left Worcester a stronger city than it was a decade ago, with booming economic development in the downtown and thousands of new housing units. Importantly, he is intimately familiar with local government and knows what it takes to collaborate with municipalities to move our state forward on our housing goals,” she said along with his announcement.
The new Secretary-Designate led Worcester from 2014 until 2022 before departing for a job in academia. Augustus left Dean College after less than a year as its first chancellor, a position he resigned last month while staying on as a special advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
While in Worcester, Healey’s office said, Augustus managed a $750 million budget and was part of the negotiations which led to the relocation of a Boston Red Sox AAA affiliate from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Worcester. He previously served as state Senator representing Worcester’s 2nd District, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s chief of staff, and as a staffer in the Clinton Administration.
Augustus’ role comes to be after Healey, as a promised means of putting focus on the state’s need for new housing, filed legislation to split the Department of Housing and Economic Development into a pair of separate secretariats which the Legislature approved earlier this month.
“Massachusetts’ housing crisis impacts every single community in our state, but we know what the solution is – build more housing,” Augustus said along with the announcement of his appointment. “This administration recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy to achieving this and that we must work closely with communities to deploy a diverse toolbox of options to meet their unique needs. That’s what this new secretariat will be committed to doing.”
The Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Massachusetts met the appointment announcement with praise for Healey’s choice.
“We believe that, as a former municipal leader, Secretary-Designate Augustus understands the dire need for new housing of all types and the steps that must be taken to facilitate rapid solutions,” they said in a written statement.