Governor Maura Healey appointed three new members to the MBTA Board of Directors, putting a former general manager at the helm in a shake-up that followed months of public outcry for a more active and engaged board.
Thomas Glynn, a past MBTA general manager and CEO of Massport under former governors Michael Dukakis and Deval Patrick, respectively, was appointed board chair. The board’s current chair, Betsy Taylor, resigned, effective immediately, a Healey spokesperson told the Herald.
Thomas McGee, a former Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation and mayor of Lynn, and Eric Goodwine, a commercial banking executive in Worcester, were appointed as new members.
Healey stuck with former Gov. Charlie Baker appointees Robert Butler and Chanda Smart, the latter of whom was added to the board in the final days of Baker’s term. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, another existing member, will continue in his role as the MBTA Advisory Board appointee. Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca rounds out the board.
“I’m pleased to make these appointments to the MBTA board,” Healey said in a statement. “I am confident that each of them will focus on ensuring the highest level of safety and service that the people of Massachusetts deserve.”
Healey added that she was grateful to outgoing members, Taylor, Scott Darling and Mary Beth Mello “for their service and commitment to our communities.”
Glynn, who led the MBTA in the ‘90s, helped Healey interview general manager candidates, including eventual pick Phillip Eng. But he became re-connected to the agency’s current issues through his involvement with the governor’s transportation transition committee, he said.
“The governor and lieutenant governor and secretary felt that I could make a contribution, so I finally said yes,” Glynn told the Herald.
Glynn addressed the criticism that’s been leveled at some current and outgoing MBTA board members, regarding their refusal to ask tough questions and perceived lack of engagement during a time when safety failures are in the spotlight, saying that “different times require different kinds of board interactions.”
The knock on the past Fiscal and Management Control Board, which disbanded when the Board of Directors was created in 2021, was that it was “a little bit too involved,” Glynn said, pointing to its weekly meetings. The current board meets monthly.
“And, so I think when Gov. Baker asked Betsy Taylor to be the chair, he wanted to kind of recenter things a little bit,” Glynn said. “But I think going forward, given the level of problems that the T faces, that this board will probably be a little bit more engaged.”
However, he said, this will be an “evolving board change,” rather than a “radical change,” as three members served under the Baker board.
Glynn said part of Healey’s thinking with her new appointments was centered around the MBTA being a regional system. Koch, as mayor of Quincy, already represents the South Shore, while McGee, a former mayor of Lynn, brings a North Shore presence.
Goodwine, the vice president commercial loan officer for the Worcester Lending Program at Rockland Trust, brings representation from the western part of the state and a financial perspective, he said.
“I think by putting the board together this way, it kind of reaches out to other parts of the state that are served by the T,” Glynn said. “So, I think it should be pretty successful and have lively discussions, because the different regions have different concerns and different priorities.”
Fred Salvucci, a former Massachusetts secretary of transportation, said that as board chair, Glynn will be able to help Eng, who “looks like he’s going to be a really strong general manager, but he doesn’t know Boston.”
Glynn was able to improve customer satisfaction considerably while he was in charge of the MBTA, which he did by focusing on riders, Salvucci said.
“You can throw money at a problem, but you can also waste it,” Salvucci said. “You shut down the Orange Line for 30 days and you spent a lot of money, and then it’s the same when it’s done.
“The test of what you’re doing is whether the riders of the system see the system getting better, and that’s what the T desperately needs right now. I know that was what Tom was very good at, was keeping the focus on the riders.”
Salvucci also spoke positively about McGee’s appointment, saying that he will help bring attention to the Northeast corridor, particularly communities like Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Revere, and East Boston that rely on the T.
McGee “fought to create a 21st-century T that is accessible and reliable for all” throughout his career, said state Sen. Brendan Crighton, who replaced McGee as Senate chair of the Legislature’s transportation committee.
“His transportation expertise and his leadership across both municipal and state government will serve him well in this new role, and I look forward to working with him and the entire board,” Crighton said.
While both Glynn and McGee bring transportation experience to the board, Tim Murray, a former lieutenant governor alongside Deval Patrick and current president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Goodwine brings the much-needed perspective of a businessperson and problem solver.
“He’s not somebody who’s been part of the transportation circles,” Murray said. “He hasn’t been in some of those circles that have come in and out of government, and then worked in private companies. He’ll come in with a fresh set of eyes and ears, and I think that’s good as well. Question things that maybe other people would just take for granted.”
