The South Shore Chamber of Commerce will appoint Norwell resident Ralph Rivkind to the newly-created Southfield Redevelopment Authority.
The Southfield Redevelopment Authority has been created by a state law, with the purpose of overseeing development of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Base. This new entity will replace the existing South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp.
Per terms of this new legislation, oversight of development of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Base, one of the largest development projects in New England, will be under the jurisdiction of a nine member board of birectors. The provisions of the legislation give the South Shore Chamber of Commerce authority to appoint one of the directors.
Peter Forman, president and CEO of the South Shore Chamber, revealed that the chamber's executive committee will recommend Rivkind's appointment, which will be voted on at a special meeting of the Chamber's board of directors in September.
Rivkind is a business and tax attorney with the Boston law firm of Rubin and Rudman. He is a Norwell resident who currently serves on that town's Zoning Board of Appeals; he previously served, also, on the town's Advisory Board.
"Ralph Rivkind is the ideal candidate for this critical position," said Forman. "He knows business, he is experienced with both housing and commercial real estate development and understands municipal real estate planning. When he served as chairman of the board of the Chamber of Commerce, he pushed for restoration of mass transit to the South Shore. He understands the connection between building strong local communities and regional economic development."
The timing of this appointment and this board is of interest to the chamber for many reasons, Forman said, not the least of which is it dovetails nicely with the chamber's regional economic development initiative that it has launched.
Ray Belanger, present chairman of the South Shore Chamber's board of directors and the CEO of Bay Copy in Rockland, said, "We definitely thank Ralph for stepping up and being willing to take on this challenge. He will bring both perspective and objectivity to the new Authority. The development project cannot succeed unless the newly created authority has serious and thoughtful directors to make critical decisions that move it forward in the best interest of the towns and the entire region." He continued, "Ralph Rivkind's appointment will bring the Authority one seat closer to meeting that need."
The other seats on the newly-created Southfield Redevelopment authority will be filled by the Abington board of selectmen (one director); Rockland board of selectmen (two directors), Weymouth mayor Sue Kay (two directors), and the Norfolk County labor council (one director). Two additional directors will be residents of Southfield.