The Arlington Finance Committee has announced new leadership for the fiscal year that began July 1. Elected were Christine Deshler, chair, with vice chairs Darrel Harmer, Annie LaCourt and Alan Jones.
They replace Charles Foskett, who served as chair after longtime leader Al Tosti stepped down in 2020.
Deshler has served as a vice chair of the committee since 2017 and as a member since 2008. She has been a Precinct 19 Town Meeting member since 1994 and is a past member and chair of the Arlington Human Rights Commission, in addition to serving on several other town boards.
She is a member of the Massachusetts bar and is currently the director of the Attorney and Consumer Assistance Program of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, Office of the Bar Counsel. Previously, she was a litigator and appellate lawyer for both public and private businesses and organizations.
Vice chairs’ backgrounds
Harmer is a certified senior project manager with more than 30 years in information technology. In past roles he has served as the Commonwealth chief information officer, and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services chief information officer and managed the commonwealth’s IT capital program. He provides IT project management for the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Darrel has been a member of town Finance Committee since December 2015 and recently joined the Capital Planning Committee as the Finance Committee’s designee.
LaCourt has been a member of the Finance Committee since 2018, a Town Meeting member since 2000, and served on the Select Board from 2005 to 2012. She has been treasurer of the Arlington Education Association and VP of finance for Temple Shir Tikvah in Winchester. For the past 25 years, she has been a professional designer and consultant in the information technology industry, serving leadership roles in Narrow Bridge Consulting, The Housing Partnership Network, YouthBuild USA and the Boston Private Industry Council.
Jones is a retired computer designer and is now attempting to retire again from a second career in small-business IT consulting and web design. His interests include gardening, woodworking, hobby electronics, audio engineering, music and the Welsh language. Alan has been a member of the Finance Committee and Town Meeting for more than two decades. He is also active in the Arlington Historical Society, Robbins Farm Cooperative Garden, and the Mystic Valley Lodge of Freemasons.
Foskett comments
Foskett, the outgoing Finance Committee chair, remarked in a June 29 news release: “It has been an honor to serve the Finance Committee as chair for the past two years. I am inspired by the professionalism and experience of the committee’s new leadership team. Due to the recent precinct changes in Town and some retirements, there are openings on the committee.”
He added, “This leadership team will enable the committee to attract new members from the community.”
Incoming chair Christine Deshler commented “I am honored to be selected this new role; it comes with a great deal of responsibility. With the energy and experience of our vice chairs and other members of the committee I am looking forward to working with town and school management and Town Meeting to help insure Arlington’s fiscal stability in the years ahead.”
For more information, contact Shane Blundell, Finance Committee member, Precinct 2. Tara Bradley is the Finance Committee executive secretary.
This news announcement from a town news release was published Friday, Juky 15, 2022.
