Ed Augustus named new secretary for housing in MA.

Governor Maura Healey on Monday said that she will appoint Edward Augustus, a longtime former Worcester City Manager, as her first Housing Secretary, a new role that will be a cornerstone of her administration’s promise to tackle the state’s spiraling housing crisis. Augustus will begin on June 1.

“Ed Augustus is the leader Massachusetts needs to take the helm of our new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and drive an ambitious, collaborative strategy to increase housing production and lower costs across the state,” Healey said in a statement.

During his eight-plus years in Worcester City Hall, Augustus — who has also served as a state senator and briefly as chancellor of Dean College in Franklin — helped oversee the redevelopment of Worcester’s Canal District, including thousands of new housing units that have helped revitalize the city’s downtown.