Election Commissioner leaving for DCR post praises dept. staff

By Barbara Taormina

Revere is losing one of its most cordial and helpful department heads next week. Election Commissioner Paul Fahey is leaving City Hall for a job with the Mass. Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR).

Fahey said he will be the liaison between the DCR and all of its partners which number about 150. “I enjoyed the election work, but I think this will be exciting,” he said during a brief telephone interview.

In a resignation letter to the community, Fahey graciously thanked everyone in the city that helped make the past 11 elections a success. He repeatedly praised the Election Department staff who helped make his job a pleasure. But there were many others on his list of people to thank, including the residents of Revere who gave him a warm welcome to the city and plenty of support and encouragement throughout his three years here.

Prior to coming to Revere, Fahey worked in state government as well as in several municipal jobs in Merrimack Valley. But Revere was his first job in elections. And it came at a time when the electoral process underwent significant changes, in the wake of Covid, with voting by mail and early voting changing how elections unfold.

“One of the consequences of the pandemic is government started to do new things. It changed voting. More people have more access, but voting is no less safe, no less secure,” he said.

Still, it was also a time when people raised concerns about the integrity of elections. “There was a lot of misinformation and disinformation that made people feel the process wasn’t working but I thought it worked fine,” he said – with 11 elections under his belt.

And he cites as an example the recount of the mayoral race between former Mayor Dan Rizzo and Mayor Patrick Keefe, Jr. where there was only a small discrepancy of about four votes.

Fahey’s shoes will be hard to fill. He said the job has been posted and with municipal elections coming up there is hope to get someone on board soon. For the interim, Assistant Election Commissioner Caitlin Welch will oversee department business, including the busy spring season when candidates begin pulling papers

“It’s been a good time,” Fahey said about his stint in Revere. And he likes the city enough to settle in. “I’m staying in town, and I’ll be staying involved as a citizen,” he said.