Current and former Town employees and committee members who have worked with outgoing Planning Director Kristin Guichard honored her with a goodbye party in the yard behind the Town’s “Red House,” across from Town Hall at 458 Main St. on July 21. Guichard has been appointed Executive Director of the Regional Housing Service Office (RHSO), a collaboration among ten member municipalities that supports those towns’ affordable housing functions. Guichard said she is grateful that for the first year in her new role, she will work alongside the outgoing executive director, Liz Rust.
Ian Bergemann and Jessica Thomas from the Land Use department planned the party and invited guests to bring food. Bergemann hosted a station where he took Polaroid photographs of guests that were posted in a notebook along with appreciations written to Kristen.
Even colleagues who are not presently working in town joined the party, including former Engineer Qinrui Pang, who now works in Sudbury, and Assistant Town Planner Kaila Sauer, who is on maternity leave.
The Acton Exchange asked some of Guichard’s colleagues to comment on Guichard’s transition.
Town Manager John Mangiaratti said Guichard had many accomplishments. “Here are a few: extensive work on our two rail trails, the comprehensive community plan, housing production plans, economic development strategic plan, wayfinding signage for Great Road and rail trails, won several important housing and economic development and planning grants for the Town. Through her work as Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) representative, she helped secure funding for important transportation projects.”
“She was instrumental in getting the Kelley’s Corner Infrastructure project through the several years of approvals, and served as project manager throughout design and construction. Last year she led our community through a collaborative and inclusive process to create new bylaws to comply with the MBTA zoning [law] and then this year the Habitat for All initiative.”
Housing advocate Bob Van Meter said he worked with Kristen on a number of Town initiatives, including the Kelley’s Corner redesign and two major zoning changes. “Kristen was a pleasure to work with. She has a gift for clear communication, whether it is to a small committee or to an audience of hundreds at Town Meeting. I will miss her on Town planning issues, but look forward to working with her in her new role.”
Acton Community Housing Corporation (ACHC) Chair Janet Adachi said, “During the past five years that I’ve been Chairman of the Acton Community Housing Corporation, we on ACHC have had the pleasure of working regularly and very productively with Kristen, the Planning Department, and the Regional Housing Services Office on an array of housing related matters. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with Kristen in her new role as RHSO Executive Director.”
At the July 21 meeting of the Select Board, Mangiaratti thanked Guichard, and Select Board Chair Dean Charter added, “Kristen is one of the delightful people that I actually served [with] as a colleague for a few years when she was very young and I was somewhat younger, and it’s been great to watch how she’s expanded her reach from being a junior planner to planning director. She’s always been an excellent resource for everyone here. I’ll personally miss her. I am very upset at Liz Rust for stealing her.” [Audience laughter.] “I was thinking about it today as I was driving through Kelley’s Corner…with Kristen gone, who are we going to blame for all the potholes in Kelley’s Corner?…you will be sincerely missed and I really appreciate all of the 13 years of service you put in for the Town. Thank you.”
Kristen spoke in kind. “Thank you all. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work for the Town of Acton and I am going to miss everyone dearly but [I] am very fortunate that I won’t be entirely leaving because I will still be able to provide affordable housing services. But this has been a joy for me to work for the Town. It is an amazing organization both internally and just the general community, and I can’t thank every single resident that I have been able to connect with, and … board, committee member, enough. It’s been amazing, and my co-workers are just–they’re great! There are some of them back there.” [She looks to the audience] “They are amazing, talented, smart, passionate public servants. It’s just amazing, so thank you…for having this opportunity.”
Before her update for the Board, outgoing RHSO Executive Director Liz Rust said, “We are thrilled that Kristen is joining and Kristen will bring such a depth in land planning which is something new for the RHSO. I don’t have that background, and we have some planning resource[s], but I think it will be a different kind of…offering for the RHSO.”
