Beacon Hill Civic Association Community Corner

Waterfall and Whitney elected to BHCA leadership posts

Eve Waterfall of West Cedar Street and Robert Whitney of Phillips Street were elected to lead the Beacon Hill Civic Association at its 96th Annual Meeting, held Monday at the Union Club. Both are attorneys who have served on the board of directors for more than a decade.

Waterfall succeeds Mark Kiefer, who served two years as chairman of the board. She moved to Beacon Hill in 1991, after a two-year stint traveling abroad following her graduation from Wellesley College. She was employed by several law firms and served as legal counsel in the General Counsel’s Office at Partners HealthCare.

She has served in many capacities during her long tenure as a BHCA director, sharing her legal expertise by chairing task forces, updating by-laws and most recently serving on the Executive Committee. For years she has chaired the BHCA Green Committee, extending her interest in sustainability issues by collaborating with the Green Committee of the Back Bay and the downtown Mothers Out Front.

She is a former soccer and baseball coach at Hill House, and and has coached middle school athletics for eight years at Milton Academy, where she also co-chairs the middle school parents’ association. She is particularly proud of her ‘excellent’ chauffeur work for her children, the family dinners she cooks, her ‘lovely’ vegetable garden in Vermont and her woodworking shop.

Robert A. Whitney succeeds Suzanne Besser who served two years as president of the board. He is manager of regulatory affairs for Neighborhood Health Plan, a Massachusetts health insurance company. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance for four years under the Patrick and Baker Administrations.

Since joining the board in 2005, Whitney’s accomplishments on behalf of the BHCA include serving on the BHCA Planning Committee that developed the Plan for the Neighborhood in 2013, and leading efforts to update by-laws and engage residents to vote. In 2006 he chaired the City of Boston Suffolk University Institutional Task Force that defeated Suffolk’s original plan to build a 33-story student dorm, and drafted the agreement limiting any additional development or expansion of Suffolk in or near the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

Most recently he has been part of the team leading BHCA’s opposition to the City’s plans to install the cement ramps and plastic tactile pads throughout the BH historic district.

Whitney is also involved in many civic and charitable organizations. He led a multi-year effort to rehabilitate the Phillips Street Play Area and founded the Friends of the Phillips Street Play Area.  He served as the president and chair of the Board of the Massachusetts Disability Law Center and as president of the Massachusetts Insurance and Reinsurance Bar Association. Currently he is president of the Boston Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society.

Emi Winterer and Ben Starr were elected to their second terms as treasurer and clerk, respectively. Twenty-one individuals were elected to serve one year terms on the board of directors; those serving their first terms are Bruce Kiernan, Maggie Moran, Tim Pingree, Janet Tiampo and Renee Walsh. Those returning to the board are Leslie Adam, Meghan Awe, Suzanne Besser, Thomas Clemens, John Corey, Erik Erlingsson, James Ewing, Russell Gaudreau, Keeta Gilmore, Katherine Judge, Andrew Kirk, Josh Leffler, Rajan Nanda, Charlotte Thibodeau, Rachel Thurlow and Colin Zick.

Neighborhood Coffee Hour May 24.

Mayor Walsh and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will host a coffee hour for Beacon Hill and Back Bay residents on May 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall between Arlington and Berkeley streets.

The coffee hour gives residents a unique opportunity to speak directly with Mayor Walsh and the staff from several city departments. Coffee and breakfast treats will be provided by Dunkin’ Donuts and fresh fruit from Whole Foods Market. In addition, each family in attendance will receive a flowering plant grown in the City’s greenhouses and be eligible to win a raffle prizes from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Information will be available on City programs from the Boston Public Library, Boston Public Schools, Boston Police Department, and Boston Centers for Youth & Families.

For more information and updates on possible weather cancellations, please contact the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at 617-635-4505 or on Facebook or Twitter.ouse SewrS

Upcoming Meetings

No meetings this week

Upcoming Special Events

Monday, June 4: Beacon Hill Meet & Greet. 6 p.m., 75 Chestnut.

Come meet your neighbors, old and new, and enjoy a drink or two.

Free appetizers / cash bar.

June 21: Summer Evening at Otis House. 6-8 p.m., 141 Cambridge Street

July 18: Evening on the Esplanade

Visit the Beacon Hill Civic Association website bhcivic.org and/or call the office (617-227-1922) for more information on how to get involved.

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