As North Andover’s town manager, Andrew Maylor, ’85, works with a $100 million budget. He will soon watch over more than $60 billion as Massachusetts’ comptroller.
No matter how many zeroes there are, Maylor keeps his time as a Bridgewater State student in mind when overseeing public money.
“Certainly, in the 1980s, going to a state school was about what we could afford,” recalled Maylor, who graduated with a degree in management. “To be around people whose families were sacrificing to put themselves through college or who themselves were sacrificing – that sticks with you.”
Maylor will become state comptroller on Feb. 18, a position the longtime municipal official is honored to fill but wouldn’t have envisioned for himself when he was at Bridgewater. Back then, he envisioned a career in the private sector.
Several years after graduating, Maylor felt the urge to run for office in Winthrop. He lost, but made connections and served on a volunteer financial oversight committee. That led to a job in Winthrop’s government and a 25-year career in several communities.
Working in local government offers “the ability every day to interact with people in the community and find ways to improve how individual communities deliver services,” he said.
Maylor is proud of his efforts to improve North Andover’s finances and turn around the Essex Regional Retirement System. His municipal government skills will likely prove useful as he embarks on his new job, since he can relate to the myriad of services state government provides. Comptroller duties include independently overseeing state finances and services.
“I am confident that Andrew will bring the level of transparency, integrity and accountability necessary for this job,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in appointing Maylor.
Working in municipal government is about more than dollars and cents. And, Maylor was recently tested in a way few managers are.
North Andover was one of three Merrimack Valley communities devastated in early September by natural gas explosions and associated fires. First responders from around New England – including some BSU officers – aided the region.
Maylor needed to communicate with his colleagues in Lawrence and Andover, state officials, public safety workers, and residents affected by the disaster. He again turned to his Bridgewater education, where the charter member of the local chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity met many different types of people.
“That personal touch, the ability to connect was largely built around relationships at Bridgewater State,” he said. (Photo by Tim Jean)
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