Six months after they left office, five former Greater Boston mayors are adjusting to life without the pressures — and rewards — of running a city. GlobeLocal recently spoke with ex-mayors Yvonne M. Spicer of Framingham, Kendrys Vasquez of Lawrence, Thomas M. McGee of Lynn, Donna Holaday of Newburyport, and Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville, asking how they are spending their time these days and to reflect on their former jobs.
McGee, Holiday, and Curtatone retired in January as a result of not seeking reelection last November, while Spicer and Vasquez were defeated in their electoral bids. Sefatia Romeo Theken, who lost a bid for reelection as Gloucester’s mayor, could not be reached.
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Yvonne M. Spicer, Framingham
Q. What are you doing these days?
A. I am resting, rejuvenating, and reconnecting. Being mayor the last two years was the most taxing time anyone could ever have imagined due to COVID. So I have been getting some good nights’ rest, and doing those things that we take for granted, whether it is getting out and exercising, walking, and just reconnecting with friends and family.
Q. What do you miss most about being mayor?
A. At the top of my list is people. I miss the incredible city employees who worked so hard over the last four years with me. And our community residents. Even today, people will approach me in the grocery store and thank me for what I did as mayor. Those are the things that make me smile.
Q. What do you miss the least?
A. I don’t miss the vitriol — the disrespect, racism, and sexism I encountered. It takes a toll on the community. It also has an effect on people wanting to come and work in Framingham because it’s so public. People see it on social media and hear it across the city.
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Q. Looking back at your tenure, what gives you the greatest pride, and any regrets?
A. I take pride in having been the first mayor of a brand new city — helping us transition to a city form of government — and in other accomplishments, such as hiring our first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer, and starting a summer youth internship program. I regret we were not able to purchase the Perini building to ease space challenges.
Kendrys Vasquez, Lawrence
Q. What are you doing these days?
A. I remain an active member of our community. In particular, my wife and I have been working arduously to bring equitable and quality home care services for our most vulnerable senior citizens in Lawrence and the entire Merrimack Valley.
Q. What do you miss most about being mayor?
A. Being able to listen to the needs of Lawrencians — and helping bring creative solutions to those issues. Those initiatives ranged from installing a stop sign in a school zone to keep children safe, to going from the state’s slowest-vaccinating community to the fastest. Very few jobs give you that opportunity to implement life-changing policies from simple conversations.
Q. What do you miss the least?
A. I don’t miss the long days and even nights. My tenure began at the beginning of my daughter’s life and by the time I stepped out of the office it felt like I was just beginning to meet her all over again. She, my son, and my wife are my entire world and being able to spend more time with them is a true blessing.
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Q. Looking back at your tenure, what gives you the greatest pride, and any regrets?
A. I am proud of how our community welcomed home Marine Sergeant Rosario-Pichardo after her death in Afghanistan. I also take pride in our vaccination work, our model child-care programming, our extensive street paving, and our innovative service to support fire victims. I regret that because I didn’t win my election, we won’t be able to realize other great plans we had for Lawrence.
Thomas M. McGee, Lynn
Q. What are you doing these days?
A. After I left office, I took time to unwind after 28 years of elective office. I did some traveling with my family. Recently, I joined the board of St. Mary’s School in Lynn. I’m on the Lynn Museum’s 125th anniversary celebration committee, and the School Building Committee for the new Pickering Middle School. And I’m exploring other opportunities.
Q. What do you miss most about being mayor?
A. It’s the people, the community you work with every day. I always enjoyed the energy and excitement of being with residents, hearing their perspectives. I especially miss being able to go into the schools and meet with students. I also miss working with the employees that work hard for the city across a broad spectrum of jobs.
Q. What do you miss the least?
A. All those interactions with residents were made so challenging by the pandemic. Everybody was on Zoom. You weren’t able to connect directly with people. Not being able to draw on what energizes you in this job — being out in the community talking to people, that was gone.
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Q. Looking back at your tenure, what gives you the greatest pride, and any regrets?
A. I’m proud we took a city facing receivership and turned it around financially. We also professionalized our planning, began long-delayed infrastructure investments, put the pieces in place for a city-owned senior center — and created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer position. I regret we weren’t able for now to restore our ferry service and bring rapid transit service to Lynn.
Donna Holaday, Newburyport
Q. What are you doing these days?
A. After 12 years in office, I really wanted time to decompress and just go on a family vacation, go to the theater, concerts. That’s been great. Right now I’m recovering from shoulder surgery. After that, I will update the resume and see what’s out there.
Q. What do you miss most about being mayor?
A. I think the people. I had a wonderful team — great department heads, a lot of great people running our boards and commissions. And I think that’s what I miss most, the daily interactions with this amazing team of people within the schools, in the city, and my peers from other communities..
Q. What do you miss the least?
A. The notice that a major storm was coming. The calls would come from everywhere, the press, everybody wanting to know what our plans were to protect Plum Island. And the challenge of dealing with the really intensive federal, state, and local regulations that made it really difficult to do what you needed to protect people’s homes and property from those storms.
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Q. Looking back at your tenure, what gives you the greatest pride, and any regrets?
A. I’m most proud of the major capital work we were able to accomplish, including the new elementary school, renovation to the Nock-Molin school, building our first senior community center, and upgrading our water and wastewater plants and the harbormaster’ facility. I regret the projects we couldn’t complete due to COVID, such as opening a new waterfront park, creating housing at the Brown School, and constructing a new fire station.
Joseph A. Curtatone, Somerville
Q. What are you doing these days?
A. Currently my full-time job is president of the Northeast Clean Energy Council, an organization promoting the rapid and equitable transition to a clean energy future and a diverse climate economy. I also work part-time as a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, advising students and working on other projects, especially with cities, which is my passion.
Q. What do you miss most about being mayor?
A. I miss the city employees I worked with every day, and people you’d see daily in the community — the organizations, social service agencies, the neighborhood residents. That regular engagement with people was the best part of the job.
Q. What do you miss the least?
A. Snow emergencies. We actually did a good job with snow emergencies. I’m not too shy to brag about it. But when we had to prepare for each year’s snowstorm, I’d joke, ‘Don’t we know this by now?’ So I don’t miss that.
Q. Looking back at your tenure, what gives you the greatest pride, and any regrets?
A. There are tangible signs of what the community — not just my administration — was able to accomplish: the brick-and-mortar things like the new high school, the Green Line, the parks, the new development, the bike lanes. I’m proud of how the community has led with its values — those projects are signs of that. My regret is that we couldn’t have done even more about the opioid crisis and making Somerville affordable for everyone to own or rent a home.
John Laidler can be reached at laidler@globe.com.
