The DCR Revolving Door Keeps Spinning
By Chuck Anastas | July 2022
At the end of June, Acting Commissioner Stephanie Cooper resigned and returned to DEP. This was her second Acting Commissioner term with DCR. She previously served during the early months of Governor Baker’s first term in office. We thank her for her service. She’s the fifth Commissioner, acting or permanent, since Governor Baker’s term began in January 2015. Doug Rice from the MWRA, and formerly general council at DCR, is now the sixth. We wish him well. He will serve nine months less than the average Commissioner’s stay of 1.3 years.**
The DCR Revolving Door began in 2015 with the appointment of Carol Sanchez. It took the Governor until April to name her as Commissioner – hardly a priority appointment. The little-known Sanchez lasted until November, overwhelmed by the Baker/Polito DCR politically appointed bad actors in her midst. Unfortunately, some of those same bad actors would last long enough to help taint Commissioner Leo Roy’s commissionership.
It’s hard to explain why the Administration waited until late in 2021 to embrace the importance of DCR. Look at two of the most significant events of Governor Bakers’ term in office – 2015’s Snowmageddon and COVID19. DCR played an essential role in mitigating the damage of both events by keeping many of the parkways open during the multiple snow emergencies of 2015 and keeping the state parks open to all during the worst of the pandemic lockdowns, social distancing, and mask mandates. Outside was the safest place for our physical and mental health, and while other open spaces were initially shuttered and gated off from the public – DCR state lands stayed open for all.
MCV is pointing to these issues because they are instructive of missteps we need to avoid moving forward. It is also important to give credit where credit is due. Governor Baker has helped significantly improve DCR over the past year. The Administration worked with the Legislative Special Commission on DCR to produce the first comprehensive report on DCR since the aughts. In the governor’s final budget, he took the Special Commission’s advice and eliminated the Retained Revenue account, a major reform that both legislative branches held harmless in their proposed budgets, the final details of which legislators are still negotiating. In addition, Gov. Baker saw that the first step in the Commission’s recommendation for a DCR Strategic Plan was paid for and completed. DCR has pledged to fast track hiring 50 new employees to make a dent in the 300 positions the agency lost following the 2008 recession. Baker also pushed but failed to send some $358 million in capital money DCR’s way via federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) and state surplus money. The Legislature agreed to $15 million.
But six commissioners in eight years is not acceptable. It points to a lack of understanding and recognition of DCR’s importance to the daily lives of the Massachusetts residents and to the $16 billion annual outdoor economy DCR supports. Commissioner appointments cannot be political gifts to the favored or short-term appointments to keep the lid on a tragically and historically underfunded agency. Consistent, stable, and long-term leadership is critical if DCR is ever to fulfil its mission, as envisioned by its creators, visionary landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Eliot.
So maybe as the dawn of a new administration approaches, it is an excellent time to talk about what we should be looking for in the next Commissioner and to insist a new Commissioner embody those qualities. To kick off that discussion, MCV asked former DCR Stewardship Council Chairman Nate Walton and the present Chairman, Jack Buckley, about the qualities they would be looking for in the next appointment.
Walton listed three: An understanding of the breadth of the agency’s responsibilities, a grasp of the mechanics, details, and politics of the DCR budget, and finally, someone who is comfortable on the public stage and can speak and respond to the public clearly and transparently.
Chairman Buckley added that it is critical to have someone who understands and is committed to the importance of state parks and open spaces in our everyday lives and has demonstrated that commitment in their prior work, and for a commissioner who can lead the agency to be nimbler and more responsive to the public and, recognize opportunities to advance the agency with the Legislature and the public.
We would add a quality MCV is looking for, too – that the next Commissioner commits to changing the look of the agency from top to bottom with more employees who mirror the faces of those who use and need our parks. Environmental Justice communities exist throughout our state, from the densest urban streets to the most remote rural areas. These communities need full representation in the agency.
Now it’s your turn! If you have qualities that you would like to see in the next Commissioner, please let us know by emailing us at info@massconservationvoters.com. We’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Anastas is the Chairman of MCV’s Board of Directors
**In comparison, over the eight years during Governor Baker’s term:
- 3 Secretaries of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
- 1 Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection
- 1 Commissioner of Agriculture
- 2 Commissioners of the Department of Energy resources
- 2 Commissioners of Fish and Wildlife