Framingham Residents Fill Municipal Board And Committee Seats

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Seven Framingham residents have been tapped to provide their expertise and perspective as new members of the Framingham Board of Health, the Welcoming Ordinance Committee, and the Ad Hoc Property Naming Committee.

At its March 15 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved Mayor Charlie Sisitsky’s three nominees to fill vacancies on the Board of Health, one hour after the Council’s Appointments Subcommittee voted 3-0 to recommend the nominees to the full Council.

Beginning their terms on the BOH immediately will be Karen Beauregard, a licensed mental health counselor from District 6; Jeri Bryant, a clinical care specialist and registered nurse employed by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care from District 7; and Darlene Connors, an operating room charge nurse recently retired from Boston Children’s Hospital from District 3.

Chosen from a field of 10 applicants, all three will be serving on a municipal body for the first time.

Volunteers Hodari Cail and Nayagara Viera will join the Welcoming Ordinance Committee, charged with writing a welcoming ordinance that will help to build trust between immigrants, the City administration and City departments. That process is expected to take most of the calendar year.

The City Council had previously named Councilors Adam Steiner, Leora Mallach, and Cesar Stewart-Morales to fill the Council’s seats on that Commission.

Other members will be Kathryn Grace and Jennifer Wellington filling seats reserved for MetroWest Legal Services, Priscila Sousa as the School Committee representative, and Deputy Chief Pereira representing the Framingham Police Department.

Cail served in state government most recently as Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Procurement for MassPort, after six years as Director of Community Affairs for the office of Governor Charlie Baker, where he designed strategies to ensure minority vote and advised the governor on opportunities to engage residents. Previously, he managed constituent services as Director of Community Affairs for Ayanna Pressley during her term as a Boston City Councilor. This will be Cail’s first volunteer service in Framingham government.

Serving as Out of School Time Coordinator for Framingham Public Schools since 2019, Viera leads the Immigrants and Refugees Affinity Group for FPS employees and has also implemented various student affinity groups at Fuller Middle School, such as Latinx Voices, Gender Sexuality Alliance, Black Student Union, Students Immigrant Alliance, and Brazilian Canarinhos. Prior to joining Framingham Public Schools, she worked as a dental surgeon in Brazil. She is a member of the city’s Human Relations Commission.

At its March 29 meeting, the Council’s Appointments Subcommittee will consider mayoral nominee Fred Stratmann for the Loring Arena Advisory Committee.

The mayor intends to continue bringing his nominations to City Council throughout the spring to fill vacancies on other boards and commissions. The vacancies can be viewed here; the application form can be accessed here. For more information, contact Keziah Franca, Citizen Participation Officer, at 508-532-5510.

This press release was produced by the City of Framingham. The views expressed here are the author’s own.