President's Remarks Vol. 3 No. 2

Last issue I reported on the comings and goings of your Board of Directors. Let me begin by congratulating our colleague Rob Consalvo who successfully secured a seat on the Boston City Council this past June. Let me also announce the addition of Shirley Shillingford who brings a wealth of client service from her position in the Boston Public Health Commission's Healthy Baby Healthy Child program. Last issue, I related the addition of Luke Moran, manager of the Cooperative Bank. Mr. Moran has now become the chairman of our Board's Building Committee when Paul McCaffrey left to focus on his new position as Director of Permitting in the Boston Parks Department. We will miss Paul who as our original fundraising chairman introduced us to our chief fundraising consultant, Mr. Dwight Lueth. Paul also produced our annual St. Patrick's Day literary evenings and too many more accomplishments to list here. We all wish Paul well in his new endeavors. Somehow or other, I too, was named to the Who's Who Historical Society of Public Service. Guess I'll need to work a little harder now.

Our quest for a new facility is at the stage known as "60% design development" meaning bids should be going out shortly. We are now dealing with the budgetary problems where the cost estimates exceed the funds available to build the design. We would like to acknowledge the support of City Council President Michael Flaherty who has joined our effort to close this gap. By virtue of his position as Council President, Michael Flaherty is also a Board member of the George Robert White Fund - our principal benefactor in this project. We expect that the funding issues will be resolved and contracts will be ready this Fall.

I wish all our neighbors in Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Roslindale a safe and happy Summer!