Executive Order

Executive Order  No. 211: The Governor's Emergency Task Force on the Economic Revitalization of the City of Lynn

Date: 12/09/1981
Issuer: Edward J. King
Mass Register: No. 290
Revoked by: Executive Order 383

Table of Contents

WHEREAS, it is in the interest of our Commonwealth and it is the obligation of its Supreme Executive Magistrate to preserve and protect the economic well-being of our people from the egregious economic consequences attendant to a natural disaster or other similarly unanticipated and catastrophic occurrence, and

WHEREAS, on the 28th of November last, a conflagration of catastrophic proportions occurred in the City of Lynn, severely destroying or damaging many business facilities, housing units and other structures located therein, and jeopardizing thereby a continuation of the remarkable progress towards economic revitalization which has been made by the City of Lynn in recent years; and

WHEREAS, on said 28th day of November, by Executive Order No. 209, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the City of Lynn because of said conflagration; and

WHEREAS, a number of agencies of the federal and state government and organizations from the private sector have the responsibility and resources to provide such financial and technical assistance as is necessary to enable the City of Lynn to initiate a renewed program of economic revitalization; and

WHEREAS, absent an immediate, substantial and coordinated response by said agencies and organizations, the direct economic consequences to the City of Lynn and areas adjacent thereto will be both deleterious and longstanding, including the loss of a substantial number of jobs and employment opportunities, a decline in business activity, and a serious decrease in the availability of safe and habitable housing units.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Edward J. King, Governor of the Commonwealth, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth, do hereby order and direct as follows:

1. There is hereby created a Task Force, to be known as the Governor's Emergency Task Force on the Economic Revitalization of the City of Lynn, to consist of ten members, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor and without compensation. The Council shall include George S. Kariotis, the Secretary of Economic Affairs, who shall serve as Chairman; Byron J. Matthews, the Secretary of Communities and Development; Michael J. Sabbagh, the Commissioner of the Division of Insurance; Gerald T. Mulligan, Commissioner of the Division of Banks and Loan Agencies; Ernest A. Lucci, Commissioner of the Department of Commerce & Development; John LeWare, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shawmut Bank, Boston; Melvin B. Bradshaw, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company; Representative Thomas W. McGee, the Speaker of the House, 11th Essex District; Senator Walter J. Boverini, the Second Assistant Majority Floor Leader, First Essex District; and Representative Timothy A. Bassett, Chairperson, Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor, 10th Essex District.

2. There is hereby created further, as an advisory body to said Task Force, with such duties and responsibilities as said Task Force deems appropriate, a Financial Assistance Strike Force, to consist of nine members, who shall likewise serve at the pleasure of the Governor and without compensation. The Strike Force shall include Robert E. Patterson, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency, who shall serve as Chairman; Richard H. Demers, the Undersecretary of Economic Affairs; Jeffrey A. Simon, the Executive Director of the Government Land Bank, Thomas W. Wharton, the President of the Community Development Finance Corporation; William F. Aikman, the President of the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation; Fred P. Stockwell, the President of the Massachusetts Business Development Corporation; Daniel Holland, the President of the Massachusetts Capital Resource Company; John Blake, Jr., the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency; and Robert A. Baker, Executive Director of the Lynn Office of Economic Development.

3. The Task Force shall have the following functions and responsibilities:

A. To survey and investigate the economic consequences to the City of Lynn of the conflagration of November 28 last, and to report to the Governor and the Mayor of the City of Lynn, Antonio J. Marino, concerning the financial and technical resources necessary to initiate an immediate program of economic revitalization therein.

B. To act on behalf of the Governor to coordinate the delivery by state agencies of all available financial and technical assistance resources necessary for economic revitalization planning and projects in the City of Lynn.

C. To act on behalf of the Governor, and by and through state agencies as appropriate to pursue any and all options for federal disaster and economic development assistance for the City of Lynn.

D. To act on behalf of the Governor to encourage and coordinate the response of private sector organizations, particularly insurance and banking organizations, to meeting the economic revitalization needs of the City of Lynn.

E. To investigate the need for such new and expanded services or administrative structures as may be appropriate to ensure that the Commonwealth responds adequately to the economic revitalization needs of the City of Lynn in this instance and can respond in such a coordinated and effective manner as may become necessary in the future.

F. To work in a variety of ways to oversee the implementation of any recommendations of the Task Force and, where necessary, to draft and sponsor legislation relative to the economic revitalization needs of the Commonwealth as a whole.

4. The Task Force is authorized to call upon any secretariat, office, department, board, commission, council, agency, or quasi-public corporation of the executive branch of state government in furtherance of its functions and responsibilities and all such governmental units are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the Task Force and to furnish it with such information and assistance in connection with its activities as is appropriate.

5. This Order shall take effect immediately and shall continue in effect until amended or revoked.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 9th day of December in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eighty-one and of the Independence of the United States of America, two hundred and six.

EDWARD J. KING

Governor

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

MICHAEL JOSEPH CONNOLLY

Secretary of the Commonwealth

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