On his first full day in office, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh made six Cabinet-level appointments — elevating several of his closest political allies — as he continued to fill out his thinly staffed administration.
Walsh named Joyce Linehan, perhaps his closest political adviser, to be chief of policy, and named Joe Rull, another close adviser, to be director of operations.
Linehan, who has been seen as one of the architects of Walsh’s election platform and campaign and has also worked on the campaigns of Governor Deval Patrick and US Senator Elizabeth Warren, had previously insisted that she would not join the administration.
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But, she said, she was beginning to feel separation anxiety, and when Walsh offered her the opportunity to oversee policy implementation, she had to jump at the chance.
Walsh also appointed state Representative Eugene O’Flaherty, who represents Chelsea and is a close friend of Walsh, as the city’s corporation counsel, or top lawyer, an appointment first reported by the Globe Monday.
O’Flaherty said he would take his post in February, and will move into the city within the next six months. Rull, who also lives outside of Boston, will also move within the city limits, Walsh said.
The others appointed by Walsh today were:
— Alejandra St. Guillen, who is currently executive director of Oiste, who was appointed to be interim director of the Office of New Bostonians;
— Keith Williams, currently associate director of neighborhood services, who was appointed interim director of the office of small businesses;
— Trinh T. Nguyen, currently chief of staff for the Boston Housing Authority, who was appointed interim director of the office of jobs and community service.
The appointments came days after Walsh named Daniel Arrigg Koh as chief of staff and Felix G. Arroyo as chief of health and human services.
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