MassDOT Board of Directors membership

Gina Fiandaca (Chair) was sworn in as Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Secretary and CEO on January 30, 2023. In this role, Ms. Fiandaca oversees the four divisions of MassDOT: Highway, Rail and Transit, Registry of Motor Vehicles and Aeronautics. As Secretary, she also serves on the Massport and MBTA Board of Directors.

Previous, to beginning work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ms. Fiandaca served as Assistant City Manager in Austin, Texas, and as the Commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department. In Austin, Ms. Fiandaca released the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan and oversaw several city departments, including, Public Works, Capital Delivery, Transportation, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the Austin Water Utility, Fleet Services, the Corridor Program Office, the Project Connect Transit Delivery System Office, and the Project Systems Intelligence Office.

With the City of Boston, prior to May 2019, Ms. Fiandaca served as Transportation Commissioner, overseeing staff who worked together to ensure safe, efficient, and equitable access on Boston’s street system for all users through a combination of transportation planning, engineering, management, operations, and enforcement efforts. Under her leadership, the department released the 15-year, $4.74 billion “Go Boston 2030,” which was Boston’s first major transportation plan in decades that included mobility projects and polices to expand access, improve safety, and ensure reliability. As Commissioner, Ms. Fiandaca served as Chair of the City’s Air Pollution Control Commission, a member of the City’s Public Improvement Commission, the Boston Emergency Management Agency, the National Association of Transportation Officials and the Massachusetts Area Planning Council.

Ms. Fiandaca has previously served in roles with national and regional parking groups, serving as President of the New England Parking Council and as a member of the National Parking Organization.

Ms. Fiandaca received a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University and an MBA from Boston University.

Carlos Aramayo is the President of UNITE HERE Local 26, the Union for hospitality workers in the greater Boston area and Rhode Island. He also serves on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO as a Vice President and as an Executive Vice President of the UNITE HERE International Union. During his 18 years with UNITE HERE, he has organized hotel and industrial food service workers in Connecticut, Nevada, Florida, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. As Organizing Director of UNITE HERE Local 26 from 2011-2016, he led successful campaigns to double the size of the Local. He first became involved with the labor movement as a rank-and-file organizer with the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (now Local 33) at Yale University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Latin American history.

Joseph Beggan brings more than 35 years of transportation experience in municipal, private sector and institutional roles. For over 10 years, he served in the City of Boston Transportation Department, 12 years as a consultant for TetraTech/Rizzo; and 13 years at Harvard University, until his retirement in 2021. Mr. Beggan is the past president of ITS Massachusetts, a former chair of the BSCES Transportation Committee and a member of the WalkBoston Board of Directors. He also represented Harvard on A Better City’s Board of Directors, Cambridge’s Transit Advisory Committee and Boston’s Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Timothy King is a Detective Sergeant for the Waltham Police Department, joining the department as a patrolman in 1992, and currently serving as President of the Massachusetts Police Association. He has also served as Attorney/General Counsel for the Massachusetts Coalition of Police since 2007 and was previously a Corrections Officer for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. King is a graduate of Waltham High School, earned a Baccalaureate Degree from Western New England College, Juris Doctorate from the Massachusetts School of Law and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. He has served on the Curriculum Advisory Board of Middlesex Community College, the Massachusetts Police Training Committee Board, and the Massachusetts Coalition of Police Executive Board. He was a member of the Massachusetts Transportation Working Group and Vice President of the Greater Boston Labor Council.

Thomas Koch has served as Mayor of the City of Quincy since January 2008 with over 20-years in public service. Mayor Koch took office just as the worst recession of our generation was hitting, and he acted immediately to protect the City with a series of financial reforms accomplished by bringing stakeholders to the table and working together. He has worked successfully for an overhaul of the city’s financial systems and zoning code, embarked on a major reform of the city’s Water and Sewer Department, and brokered an agreement that is saving taxpayers and city employees millions of dollars on health insurance costs. In just his first six years in office, Mayor Koch spearheaded an unprecedented number of important public projects to fruition, some of them discussed for decades.

Dean Mazzarella has served as the Mayor of Leominster and Chairman of the Leominster School Committee for the past 22 years. As Mayor he has focused on fiscal stability, economic development, and improving the quality of life in Leominster. The Mayor also has served as the Management representative for the state's Joint Labor Management Committee for the past 16 years, successfully resolving labor/management contract disputes across the Commonwealth. He also serves on the Montachusett Metropolitan Planning Organization. Prior to his election, Mayor Mazzarella served as a Leominster Police Officer for 10 years. He is a small business owner, operating Central Flag & Flagpole for more than 30 years.

Kathleen M. Murtagh, P.E. brings to the Board more than 28 years of civil and geotechnical engineering experience in a broad range of civil engineering projects. She has experience in projects related to transportation, tunnels, pipelines, buildings, retaining structures, water and wastewater treatment plants, landfills, tanks, waterfront structures, recreational facilities, and geothermal systems. She currently serves as Director of Tunnel Redundancy for the Metropolitan Tunnel Redundancy Program for the MWRA. Her experience extends to alternative delivery methods including design build, construction management at risk, and program management of various project types including site development and facilities, transportation, infrastructure, water front structures, pipelines and tunnels. She earned her B.S in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and her Master’s in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Vanessa Otero is the Chief Operating Officer at Partners for Community. She has led strategic planning, grant writing, program evaluation and risk management efforts, in addition to overseeing $70 million in public and private grants and contracts.  Otero was previously Director of the North End Campus Coalition, where she was responsible for developing and implementing community-based programming to address health indicators in Springfield. Otero has a bachelor's degree in Women’s Studies from Smith College, a master’s in Public Administration from the University of Massachusetts, and was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Springfield Fellow in Urban Planning in 2012. Otero has played an active role in community organizations and continues to serve as part of many boards and institutions, including as a board member of Sisters of Providence Health Systems/Mercy Hospital, Regional Employment Board, Brightwood Development Corporation, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Veritas Preparatory Charter School, and New England Farm Workers’ Council. She also serves as Commissioner of Springfield Water and Sewer and as a founding member of the Puerto Rican/Latino Leadership Council and the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley.

Betsy Taylor (Vice Chair) is the former Director of Finance and Treasury at Massachusetts Port Authority, where she played a critical role in budgeting, financial planning, treasury management, and project financing for over 35 years. Taylor established the Massport Treasury Department, prepared major authority-wide financing strategy, and led Massport's re-entrance to the bond market. She previously worked in budget management and administration at University of Massachusetts, Smith College, and Lesley College. Taylor earned her BA graduating cum laude from Oberlin College, and her MBA from Stanford University. She lives with her husband in Needham and that they have two grown sons.

Timothy Whelan has a long history of public service. He most recently served as a State Representative representing the 1st District of Barnstable and has served in the Massachusetts Legislature since 2013. Representative Whelan also served in the United States Marine Corps and as a member of the Massachusetts State Police, where he attained the rank of Sergeant. In the State Police, Whelan gained experience in the fields of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement and Incident Management. He has traveled to other states to instruct in the fields of Hazardous Material and Bulk Package transportation on behalf of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.