Robert Laplante

Appointed 2018

Robert has served as a member on the Amesbury Planning Board since 2014. He also serves as the Planning Board’s representative on several municipal committees: Amesbury’s Economic Incentive Committee (AIEC) which deals with Tax Incentive Financing, the Housing Committee dealing with planning and zoning, the Disposition Committee dealing with strategy for the reuse of surplus municipal sites, the Advisory Committee on Community Development and served as Treasurer of Amesbury’s Culture Council (2008 to 2014).

Robert is retired from a career in the field of Urban Development and Housing. He began his career with the Urban Renewal Administration in the U.S. Housing & Home Finance Agency’s New York Regional Office. He worked in a variety of positions from Field Representative to Chief of Operations working with local communities, State and Federal agencies involved in the urban renewal programs. He later was an original member of the newly established HUD Regional Office in Boston where he served as an Assistant Regional Administrator, and as a program director.

 Robert graduated from Florida State University with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and has completed the Urban Executive Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School. He is a veteran of service with the United States Navy.

Lisa LaGrasse Schwarz

Appointed 2016

 Lisa has served as the Senior Planner for Andover since 2001. She serves on the Board of the Merrimack Valley affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and Boston Children’s Hospital CSG. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the American Planning Association. Lisa also served in the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa as an education and environmental volunteer.

Lisa is a graduate of Clemson University’s College of Architecture and the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Design.

Jim Barnes

Appointed September 2016;
Elected as Treasurer July 2017

Jim currently serves as a member of the Boxford Housing Partnership Committee.  He served as Lawrence’s Community Development Director from 2008 to 2016. Prior to that, he retired as Deputy Regional Administrator in the Boston Office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after 36 years of professional experience in various management positions in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Boston. Prior to joining HUD, Jim served as a VISTA Volunteer with a nonprofit housing corporation in Milwaukee.

Jim currently maintains a small community development consultancy practice providing technical assistance nationally to state and local governments.

Jim graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with a B.A. in Economics and DePaul University with an MBA.

John Cashell

Appointed February 2017

 John has served as the Georgetown Town Planner since 2017. John has over 30 years of professional municipal, state and federal government experience. He served as the Town Planner for Hudson, NH, for 14 years specializing in supervising and directing land use and economic development activities. He served as the part-time Town Planner for both Tewksbury and Georgetown, MA. and 16 years as Planning Director for the City of Woburn, MA. He also served 11 as the Town of Hudson, NH representative to the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (NRPC) and 12 years as the City of Woburn representative to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC).

 John graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Master of Science Degree in Public Affairs. He also served 3 years of active and honorable service (1975-1978) Fourth Infantry Division, United States Army.

Rebecca Oldham

Appointed 2018

 Rebecca serves as the Groveland Town Planner. She served as the Senior Planner for the City of Methuen, Staff Planner for the Town of North Andover and worked in the State Legislature.

 Rebecca graduated from Suffolk University with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. 

April Der Boghosian

Appointed 2014

 April serves as a member on the Haverhill Planning Board. She is an Attorney with a solo practice, primarily handling indigent criminal defense cases. April graduated from Emmanuel College and N.E. School of Law, Boston.with her husband Ken and two children, Emma and Harry.

Theresa Park

Appointed 2014;
Elected as Chairperson July 2017

Theresa serves as Lawrence’s Planning Director. She is an urban planner with 20+ years of experience in economic and community development.

Most of her professional planning experience is in municipal government, including the cities of Lawrence, Lowell, Newton and Cambridge. She has also worked in non-profit and private sectors. Her planning experience in Massachusetts was launched at the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission. Theresa is involved with various community-based organizations – EforAll, Immigrant Learning Center, the Acre Family Childcare to name a few. When not in the office, she is busy plotting her next international travel adventure.

Theresa graduated from George Washington University with a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning and the University of Massachusetts – Amherst with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance.

John Thomas

Appointed 2004

John served as a member on the Merrimac Planning Board. He is involved in numerous organizations from sports, service organizations and public service. He was instrumental in overseeing the funding and planned reconstruction of Merrimac Square as well as involvement in the resurfacing of I-495 in Merrimac. He works in Sales and Marketing with The New York Times Company.

John graduated from Northern Essex Community College and University of Lowell with a Degree in Business. 

Martha Taylor

Appointed 2018

Martha has served as Newbury’s Town Planner since December 2008. In her capacity as Town Planner, she participates in several committees, including the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Task Force, Stormwater Management Team, Border to Boston Trail Committee, Master Plan Committee and Open Space Committee. She is involved with short-range and long-range planning issues.

She is a registered architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects and has worked both as a sole practitioner specializing in residential design and for Cambridge and Boston-based architectural firms with a focus on institutional, corporate, and historic rehabilitation planning and design.

 Martha graduated from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design with a Master’s Degree in Architecture and Wellesley College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Russian Language.

Rick Taintor

Appointed 2019

Rick serves as a member of the Newburyport Planning Board.  He also served as a member and vice chair of the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority. He is a founding member of Newburyport Livable Streets, a community group focused on education and advocacy related to transportation infrastructure and policies.

Rick has 40 years of planning and community development experience, including 18 years as a municipal planner and 22 years as a consultant to municipalities and state and federal agencies. Rick was the Planning Director for Framingham, MA (1983 to 1988), and for Portsmouth, NH (2009 to 2017). While in Portsmouth, he represented the City on the Rockingham Planning Commission, the regional planning agency for southeast New Hampshire.

As a consultant, Rick has directed a wide variety of community and regional planning projects, including comprehensive and master plans, comprehensive zoning revisions, commercial area zoning updates, commercial corridor studies, open space and recreation plans, development review services, regional economic development and tourism strategies, scenic corridor management plans, and statewide scenic byway programs. Locally, his consulting work includes Newburyport’s 2001 Master Plan, 2004 Strategic Land Use Plan, and 2005 Little River Transit Village Feasibility Study.

Rick Byers

Appointed 2012

Rick served as a member of the North Andover Zoning Board of Appeals from 2003 to 2016 and was a founding member of the North Andover Housing Partnership Committee.

He maintains a general law practice in North Andover with an emphasis on real estate and land use law.

Rick graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a BA in Political Science and Western Michigan University where he received his law degree. He has also completed the requirements of the Economic Development Academy at the University of New Hampshire and is an adjunct faculty member at Endicott College where he teaches real estate and planning at the Van Loan School of Graduate Studies.

Bob Snow

Appointed 2006;
Elected as Vice Chairman in 2017

Bob currently serves as a member of the Rowley Board of Selectmen and as a Commissioner on the Rowley Municipal Light Board and served as a member of the Rowley Planning Board.

Bob is retired and has over 40 years’ experience in Telecommunications in both Management and Engineering and is presently the President of the Ipswich Rotary and a former Marine Corps veteran.

Louis D. Masiello

Appointed 2010

Lou serves as a member of the Salisbury Planning Board along with various boards, commissions and non-profit service organizations. He served as chairman to the Salisbury Board of Health and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Salisbury Cable TV and Media Center, Inc. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Salisbury Beach Betterment Association, the Advisory Committee to the Salisbury Beach Partnership, Inc. He has served on the Salisbury Democratic Town Committee for 14+ years and is currently Vice Chairman.

His working career as an engineer and program manager included four years in the defense industry and 40 years in service to the United States Defense Department as a civilian engineer, most of which was served at the Air Force Electronic Systems Center (ESC) at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts. Lou retired from Air Force civilian service in 2002 and was honored with a medal for Outstanding Civilian Service to the Department of the Air Force.

Lou graduated from Lowell Technological Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering and from Northeastern University, Boston with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Brian Murphey

Appointed 2010

Brian has served as a member of the West Newbury Planning Board since 2004. He also serves as a member of the Workforce Housing Trust and the Community Housing Committee in efforts to bring affordable housing options to the Town.

He is currently employed in a facility management role at a Greater Boston area bank. 

Brad Buschur

Appointed 2011

Brad serves as Project Director with Groundwork Lawrence where he is responsible for community outreach and overseeing the design and construction of open space improvements in Lawrence. This includes the Campagnone Common, the Spicket River Greenway, the Merrimack Riverwalk Trail, and the Manchester Lawrence Branch Rail Trail. He is also responsible for managing Lawrence’s network of community and schoolyard garden sites

Prior to working for Groundwork Lawrence, he worked as a Landscape Designer on park projects in Boston as well as designing large campuses in Russia and Pakistan. He has worked for developers on transit-oriented design projects as well as for land conservation organizations to protect important habitats through acquisitions and conservation easements.

Brad graduated from Miami University with a BA Degree in Urban Planning and Political Science and from the University of Massachusetts with a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture.

Kathleen Colwell

Appointed 2018
Elected Secretary November 2019

Kathleen has served as the City of Methuen’s Planning Division Director since May 2006. In her capacity, she administers all applications before the Community Development (Planning) Board, responds to public inquiries advising developers, builders, realtors, citizens, and property owners on items relating to zoning, subdivision, site plan review, rules and regulations, interprets Massachusetts General Laws relating to planning and zoning, makes recommendations regarding comprehensive planning, zoning, and researches/writes local, federal and state grant applications.

She serves on several committees including the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board, Methuen Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Task Force, Open Space Committee, Cannabis Policy Working Group and Master Plan Committee.

Kathleen graduated from Vermont Law School with a Juris Doctor and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law and from Colby College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and Environmental Science.