New Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Brian Arrigo mentioned he desires to be the “longest serving” individual within the function after a report launched Friday identified turnover on the prime of the division inside the final decade.
A report from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Metropolitan Beaches Commission mentioned there have been six DCR commissioners up to now eight years, which has led to a scarcity of “leadership continuity, clear direction, and accountability at the top.”
The Department is tasked with managing the 450,000 acres that make up the state’s parks system.
DCR commissioners, the report mentioned, typically made guarantees or commitments that they the place then not round to maintain.
Arrigo, the previous mayor of Revere, is barely three weeks into his new job as commissioner however, at a Friday morning occasion, mentioned he has heard from employees who’re excited to have a brand new commissioner, “who has been appointed by a new governor, who will be around for a little while.”
“I look forward to the work ahead. I hope to be the longest-serving DCR commissioner. I know that’s not all that long,” he mentioned. “[DCR] can be the most powerful engine in state government. I talked about climate and equity and public health and economic opportunity. All of those important issues … the Department of Conservation and Recreation sits in the middle of all that.”
Arrigo mentioned DCR’s new imaginative and prescient round areas, seashores, and parks will “kind of alleviate any fear that people have about continuity or about leadership.”
Both the Metropolitan Beaches Commission and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay mentioned they look ahead to addressing systemic issues and implement long-term options that the DCR commissioner “may not be around to solve.”
“We are counting on the governor and her administration to set policy and hold the agency, and not just the commissioner, accountable over time,” members of the fee wrote in a letter launched Friday alongside the report.
The report mentioned Massachusetts has the bottom state and native authorities per capita spending on parks and recreation within the nation.
That comes as DCR’s finances has been diminished by about 30% over the past 15 years, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay Executive Director Chris Mancini advised the Herald on Thursday.
Gov. Maura Healey has proposed rising the division’s funding by 12% to $149.9 million in her fiscal 2024 state finances proposal. The Senate proposed funding the division at $148.7 million and the House steered roughly $147 million.
Arrigo mentioned he’s working with lawmakers to maintain the will increase within the last state finances.
“And at that point, it’ll be up to us to kind of prove that that investment is worth it,” he mentioned. “I think everyone here understands that that kind of investment is important.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”