Press Release  Jamey Tesler named Registrar of Motor Vehicles

Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack has announced the appointment of Jamey Tesler to the position of Registrar of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV).  Tesler, who has implemented a series of safety-focused reforms at the RMV and Merit Rating Board (MRB) since being named Acting Registrar on June 25, 2019, has more than 16 years in the public sector in senior management roles.

"Jamey Tesler’s experiences in the course of his career in the public sector give him a unique lens to look at Registry operations and make improvements so that the Registry is in compliance with statutes and policies, was quickly able to change its service model in response to the pandemic and can continue to deliver quality service to customers,” said Governor Charlie Baker. "I am pleased the Registry will continue to have Jamey’s leadership as the agency continues to fulfill both its safety-related and customer service functions.”

“The many steps Jamey has taken in the last year have demonstrated his ability to make changes in collaboration with the workforce which better position the Registry to meet its goals including serving the public as efficiently as possible,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “I am confident Jamey will continue to prioritize operational improvements to streamline transactions and take measures which carry out the Registry’s responsibilities pertaining to protecting public safety.”

“After stepping up to lead the Registry of Motor Vehicles at a difficult time, Jamey has re-prioritized and re-oriented the RMV and MRB around public safety responsibilities and functions, while transforming the RMV’s service model in the midst of a pandemic,” said Secretary Pollack. “He has built a strong leadership team and excellent relationships with the workforce while demonstrating the ability to identify and implement changes in longstanding practices that failed to ensure that the Registry met its core safety and credentialing functions.  I am delighted that Jamey has finally agreed to stay on in a permanent capacity to build on nearly a year of change management and complete the job he began last June.”

Over the last year, Tesler has overseen the hiring of new senior managers, including a Deputy Registrar for Safety, Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Policy & Risk, has enhanced training and improvements in key departments, including the Merit Rating Board, and has made other organizational changes to reprioritize the RMV’s public safety mission and functions. There has been an increased focus on accuracy and timeliness of updating driver records and improving the reliability of state-to-state data sharing and communications concerning violations by Massachusetts licensed drivers.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to work with the RMV’s strong and resilient workforce who day-in and day-out continue to meet the demands for changing and improving how we do both critical back-office safety work and our front-line business,” said Tesler. “I admire the dedication of these employees who have informed, developed and launched many important initiatives in the last year, and who have been relentless through the pandemic to focus on the challenges ahead.  The RMV is proving it can reinvent operations to be a nimble, responsive organization that prioritizes the public health and safety of everyone, especially RMV customers and those who use Massachusetts’ roads.”

The RMV is committed to building on the safety and customer service-based improvements that have been made since June 2019, including:

• Prioritizing ‘one driver, one record’ by ensuring RMV records of Massachusetts drivers are as up to date and accurate as possible based on the information available to Massachusetts from law enforcement, the courts, and other states and external partners, through primarily electronic and automatic data-sharing means.  Continually refining and updating the process for regularly checking all 5.2 million Massachusetts’ driver records against the National Driver Registry (NDR) and establishing other data-sharing agreements with states as done with New Hampshire.

• Advocating for a federal CDLIS-like system that automates state-to-state communications for non-commercial drivers and bolster Commercial Driving License (CDL) administration.

• Leveraging the Commonwealth’s investment and opportunity in the RMV’s new ATLAS technology system, which became fully operational in the fall 2019, and has allowed for the implementation of multiple, significant changes across the agency, including enhanced state-to-state communications, automatic voter registration, a non-binary gender option for Massachusetts’ credential holders, an appointment-only reservation system and online learner’s permit test, and external business partnerships that reduce the demand for in-person services while offering  more customer-friendly, web and phone-based transactions.

Tesler has worked for more than 16 years in the public sector, including roles as General Counsel to the Massachusetts State Treasurer, Deputy Legal Counsel in the Office of the Governor, Deputy General Counsel for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, MassDOT Assistant Secretary for Procurement and Contract Management, Acting Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Transportation, and then as Chief Operating Officer at MassDOT.  In April 2019, Tesler left state government for the position of Chief of Staff at Suffolk Construction and then returned to work for the Commonwealth as Acting Registrar on June 25, 2019. 

Tesler received his bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Relations and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan. 

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