Brian P. Golden

Golden was born on February 2, 1965, in Boston. He graduated from Boston Latin School, Harvard College, and the William & Mary Law School. He served in the United States Army from 1993 to 1996 and has been in the United States Army Reserve since 1997.[1] His position in the Army was with the JAG Corps.[2]

In 1990, Golden was an unsuccessful candidate for the Massachusetts House of Representatives seat in the 19th Suffolk district. His career in the state legislature was interrupted twice when he was deployed into war zones. In 2001 he was deployed to Bosnia and then deployed to Iraq in 2005.[3]

He finished second in four candidate Democratic primary behind Susan Tracy and ahead of Steven Tolman and John J. McLaughlin.[4] From 1999 to 2005 he represented the 18th Suffolk district in the House.[1] He broke with his party by opposing abortion and gay marriage.[5] He endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. He also assisted with the Bush campaign's 2000 recount efforts in Florida.[6] In 2004 he was appointed commissioner of the Department of Telecommunications and Energy by Republican Governor Mitt Romney.[7] He also served as New England's regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services.[8]

In 2009, Golden became the Executive Director/Secretary for the Boston Redevelopment Authority when he was appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.[9] He became head of the agency (later renamed the Boston Planning & Development Agency) in 2014 when Peter Meade departed.[10] In 2019 he was a finalist for CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority. Boston Port Director Lisa Wieland was chosen over Golden by a 5 to 2 vote.[11] Golden left the BPDA in 2022. His 8-year tenure as director was the longest in the agency's history.[12] During his tenure, the BPDA approved some 10,000 new income-restricted residential units.[13]