Lisa LaGrasse Schwarz

Appointed 2016

Elected as Treasurer May 2024

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

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.

Annie Schindler

Appointed 2022

Annie serves as the Town Planner and Environmental Program Coordinator for the town of Groveland. She has also served as an assistant horticulturalist and visitor relations coordinator for the Trustees in Canton, MA. 

Annie graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resources and the Environment, with a concentration in environmental conservation.

Kristen Grubbs

Appointed 2024

Kristen has served as Newbury’s Planning Director since July 2024. She previously worked as Newbury’s Assistant Planner, alongside long-time MVPC Commissioner, Martha Taylor. Prior to working in Newbury, she was Town Planner in Ipswich, Environmental Planner for the Ipswich River Watershed Association, and Coastal Project Manager for The Trustees of Reservations. She also previously served as a volunteer member of the Newbury Planning Board.

In addition to her role in an array of short-range and long-range planning initiatives in Newbury, she serves on a mix of regional partnerships, including the Steering Committee of the PIE-Rivers Partnership, the Steering Committee for the Greater Newburyport Housing Choice Coalition, the 8 Towns & the Great Marsh committee, and MVPC’s Active Transportation Committee.

Kristen has a Master’s degree from Antioch University New England and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She has lived in Byfield (Newbury) with her family since 1999.

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.

Eitan Goldberg

Appointed 2024

Eitan is the chair of the North Andover Planning Board.  Eitan has served on the Planning Board since 2017.  Eitan is a practicing attorney with a personal  injury practice in Haverhill.  Prior to that he worked as an Assistant City Solicitor in Beverly, and before that has worked as a criminal defense attorney and an Assistant District Attorney in Essex County.  

Eitan is a graduate of Boston University and Georgetown University Law Center.  

Bob Snow

Appointed 2006
Elected as Chairman January 2020

Bob served as Vice-Chair to the Commission and elected as Chairman January 2020. He 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.

Thomas Abisalih

Appointed 2023

Tom serves on the Commission’s Finance Committee.  He is a lifelong resident of the Merrimack Valley, born and raised in Lawrence, and living in Merrimac for the past 40 years.  He currently serves on the Merrimac  Planning Board.  His other municipal experience includes having served on Merrimac’s Finance Committee, Master Plan Committee, Electric Vehicle Committee, and as it’s Town Treasurer.  He has also served as the Town Treasurer in Groveland.

Tom has retired from a career in operations and regulatory compliance for wealth management/investment advisory firms in Boston, however he continues to serve as an independent personal fiduciary for several individuals. He has also served as a Trustee and Treasurer of Esperanza Academy in Lawrence, where he remains actively involved.

Dan Welch

Appointed 2024

Dan serves on the Town of Salisbury’s Planning Board. He is a lifelong resident of Merrimack Valley having grown up in Newburyport and a resident of Salisbury for the past 35 years. Dan has been an active participant in the development of the Town of Salisbury’s MBTA Overlay District as well as the recent update of the Towns Housing Production Plan.

Dan retired from the Semiconductor Industry in 2023 after 37 years where he served in several senior management roles. His roles were in operations where he served as the Director of Quality and Senior Management roles in Marketing, Procurement, Manufacturing, Customer Service and Sales. Dan graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology with a degree in Computer Electronics and Robotics and attended Endicott College where he obtained a BS in Business Administration with a focus on international business.

Dan is currently the owner of Greenhouse Lawn and Yard Care where he maintains residential properties in several Merrimack Valley communities.

He currently serves on The Board of Directors of Salisbury Cable Television and Media Center and is the Vice Chair of Salisbury Lions Club. Dan is also an active member of the Salisbury Santa’s Helper program that has been providing Christmas for Salisbury children and families for >30 years.

Frank O’Connor

Appointed: 2024

Frank has served as the Planner for Georgetown since June 2024. He has more than twenty years of public service throughout Essex & Worcester counties in economic and community development and public housing. Frank served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Costa Rica as an education volunteer and is an Eagle Scout.

Frank graduated from Lawrence High School and Saint Bonaventure University in New York with a B.A. in Social Sciences and English and earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. 

Kathleen Lambert, AICP, MS, LEED-GA

Appointed 2024

Kathleen Lambert is the ARPA Project Manager administering the $37.5 million dollars of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the City of Haverhil. She brings years of experience in management of funds, grants and procurement to the Commission. She also works in transportation planning and transit after many years in the Architectural field. In past roles Ms. Lambert has designed facilities for transit, bicycle and pedestrians as well as buildings. Lambert is the former Deputy Administrator for MEVA and has a strong passion for community service. She is a current board member of Mass Bike serving in the office of Board Clerk.

She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master’s of Community and Regional Planning from Temple University. Her professional experience includes providing design services and advice on numerous community-based projects and has led design project teams for multiple clients. She served as representative for Rock Region METRO to the Technical Coordinating Committee and Regional Planning Advisory Council for Metroplan MPO. She is a cyclist, hiker and pickle-baller. Plus, she’s an advocate for transit, bicycle and pedestrian issues in her community and the greater Northshore. She lives in Haverhill, MA.

Dan McCarthy

Appointed —-

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.

Frank Surillo

Appointed 2023

Francisco Surillo moved to Lawrence, MA, on July 1, 1980, and relocated to Methuen in August 2015. He is currently serving as the Business & Economic Development Director for the City of Lawrence and holds multiple leadership roles, including Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Methuen Housing Authority (State Appointee), Voting Board Member for the North East (Region 2) Regional Capital Assistance Team, and Authorizing Official for Public and Indian Housing Real Estate Assessment. He has also served as Chairman-District Committee Member for Greater Lawrence Technical High School, Commissioner on the Governor’s Latino Advisory Commission, and Chairman of the Lawrence Human Rights Commission.

Frank Graduated from M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling, Cambridge College, M.S. in Organizational Management and Leadership, Springfield College, B.S. in Human Services, Springfield College

Kathleen B. Colwell

Appointed 2018

Elected as Secretary 2024

Kathleen has served as Secretary and Vice Chair during her time on the Commission. She is 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 research/es writes local, federal and state grant applications.

She serves on several committees including the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board and the State Designer Selection Board.

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. She recently completed a graduate certificate program in Regulatory Affairs for Cannabis Control from Clark University (2020). In her spare time she likes to travel, read a good book, spend time with friends and family, and aspires to get to the gym on a regular basis.