Herb Gleason, RIP

It is both sad and, in a way fitting, that I learned of Herb Gleason's passing in today's Boston Globe in a story "BRA cuts deals at expense of affordable housing". Had the story not mentioned his passing, one of my first reactions would have been to call Herb to talk with him about it.

I met Herb several years ago after he tracked me down a few days after he and I were both testifying about different matters on the same day at the Zoning Board of Appeals. He called to tell me that he appreciated what I was doing and to lend his moral support in what was often a fruitless effort to challenge how Boston hands out zoning variances that completely contradict the letter and intent of the zoning law.

We spoke and met several times over the years and talked about development in Boston, my career choices, and Harvard's expansion in Allston. I had no idea he was ill when we spoke for the last time a few weeks ago about Marty Walsh and the future of the city that Herb loved so much.

Boston was certainly a better place because of Herb's intelligence, caring, and dedication. I will miss him.

“The basic problem is that all development is done on a completely ad hoc basis” with no overarching plan, said Herbert Gleason, Boston’s corporate counsel from 1968 to 1979, in an interview this fall; he died earlier this month. “We need a mayor who respects the process and planning and the legal requirements” of public meetings.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/22/boston-redevelopment-authori...

“Any of the big downtown law firms could have offered any one of a dozen lawyers who might have become the best corporation counsel Boston ever had. Herb Gleason is all of that, but he’s also been through the wars,” White told the Globe in March 1969, adding with a laugh: “So what if he’s always getting his head beat in. Herb knows the business. He knows politics.”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/18/herbert-gleason-former-bosto...