Mass. Taxpayers Foundation President Widmer to retire
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Michael Widmer, 75, announced this week he will retire after 22 years on the job.
Beacon Hill politicians for years have touted Michael Widmer's stamp of approval as proof that their fiscal or policy proposals are meritorious.
Now Widmer is poised to exit a stage where he has loomed large since the early 1990s.
"I've loved so many aspects of this job," said Widmer, 75, who announced Tuesday his plans to retire as president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF). "Most of all I've loved the intersection of policy and politics and trying to help move issues."
Widmer is only the fourth president of the 82-year-old foundation, a business-backed nonprofit that provides research and analysis of tax, spending and economic issues. He joined MTF in 1990 and has been its president since 1992.
"We've tried to be the source of impeccable analysis on critical issues so that people turn to us for the numbers and the understanding of competing claims around complex issues," said Widmer, who blended public- and private-sector work during a long career after he graduated from Princeton University and earned master's and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard.
In addition to holding governors and legislative leaders accountable for budget-balancing tactics, the foundation last year was part of a group that led opposition to a new technology tax, which was repealed, and over the years has pushed for municipal health insurance reforms, which were adopted in 2011, and larger transportation investments.
Widmer plans to train his successor before departing and intends to remain active.
"I have high energy," said Widmer, who lives in Belmont. "I'm going to try to stitch together some things that keep me active. I'm not going to go to Florida and disappear."
In addition to the allure of playing a role in state policy decisions, the foundation's top post features another attractive feature - Widmer's base salary is $330,000.
Karen Green, a partner at Wilmer Hale and a member of the foundation's executive committee, will chair a seven-member search committee charged with selecting Widmer's successor.
Before joining MTF, Widmer worked for Cabot Corp. between 1979 and 1990 as director of public affairs and vice president for human resources. In the 1970s, Widmer was a special assistant in Gov. Frank Sargent's administration. A former United Press International reporter, Widmer also worked as director of communications and deputy chief secretary for former Gov. Michael Dukakis during his first term.
"The state and local governments have benefitted enormously from Mike Widmer's bold and innovative leadership. With integrity and persistence, he has blazed a path of reform and shined a spotlight on issues critical to our state's economic future," foundation chair Fay Donohue, CEO of Delta Dental of Massachusetts, said in a statement.
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