Uncommon Sense

Setti Warren for Mayor of Newton 2009.

Here’s his bio:

 

About Setti

Setti recently returned from a year serving as an intelligence specialist with the United States Navy in Iraq. He is thrilled to be back home in Newton!

 

As mayor, Setti will use his proven leadership skills to manage the city efficiently. He will bring people together, listen, solicit feedback and ultimately make the tough decisions that need to be made, while always encouraging and providing transparency in the decision-making process.

Prior to his deployment, Setti served as the Deputy State Director for Senator John Kerry, where he was responsible for working with the Boston and Washington, DC staff to manage personnel and policy issues for the Senator in Massachusetts. While in Senator Kerry’s office, Setti was also responsible for directing all small business and economic development issues in Massachusetts. In this role, he worked closely with mayors and other state and federal officials on a daily basis to promote job creation, small business development and economic growth in the state.

Setti has been involved with public service since his freshman year at Newton North High School, where he was elected class president – a post he held for four years in a row. As a sophomore at Boston College, Setti became the second African American to be elected student body president in the college’s history. In 2007 Setti received his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.

Later, as vice president of his family’s consulting firm, Setti was responsible for designing and implementing the national award-winning high school internship program at the Central Artery/Tunnel Program in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 1995, Setti joined President Clinton’s reelection campaign. In March of 1996, he was appointed to the President’s advance staff and was quickly promoted to assistant director of that office.

While at the White House, Setti also served as a Special Assistant for Cabinet Affairs under Cabinet Secretary Thurgood Marshall, Jr., working with the offices of the Attorney General, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Small Business Administration.

In 1999, President Clinton appointed Setti to be New England Regional Director of FEMA, where he managed a staff of 75 permanent full time employees, a reservist workforce of over 400, four senior department heads and all mitigation and emergency programs. He was responsible for the annual office operating budget of $500,000 and directing over $20,000,000 in program assistance funds to the New England states. In this capacity he worked closely with local mayors, members of Congress and governors to administer vital and effective FEMA programs and deliver resources to cities and towns throughout New England. Setti served in that post until President Bush took office in January, 2001.

Setti spent the next two years working in the development office at Boston College until he was appointed trip director for Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2003.

Setti was a founding member of Newton’s Community Preservation Committee in 2002 and served as its spokesperson. Additionally, he served on the Newton Economic Development Commission in 2005. In 1997 Setti was awarded the Human Rights Award and subsequently had December 17 declared “Setti Warren Day” by Newton Mayor Thomas Concannon in recognition of his outstanding work as Vice-Chair of the City of Newton’s Foundation for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Equality.

Setti and his wife Tassy currently live in the house where Setti grew up and are thrilled to be living in Newton and looking forward to raising a family here and remaining active in the community. Their daughter, Abigail was born on June 10, 2008.

And here’s how to get involved.