Raymond V. Mariano better known as Ray Mariano, is the current Executive Director of the Worcester Housing Authority. Prior to his service as Executive Director of the WHA, Ray served as Mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Born in 1950, Raymond Mariano is the oldest of nine children, the son of an immigrant mother and a disabled veteran father. He grew up in one of the state’s largest public housing projects, Great Brook Valley.

Ray graduated with a BA from Worcester State College

Worcester State College

Worcester State University is a public, four-year college founded in 1874 as Worcester Normal School in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. Although WSC traditionally has an emphasis on education, business, and biotechnology, the College offers Bachelors and Masters degrees in over 20 academic...

 and holds an MPA from Clark University

Clark University

Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...

 (1982). Ray has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at several New England colleges and universities. His teaching includes both government and management courses.

Family

Ray is married to Antonia K. Mariano, a teacher in the Worcester Public Schools. The couple has three children, Gina-Marie, Raymond Jr., and Anthony.

Early Political Career

In 1974, at the age of 24, Ray became a candidate for the Worcester School Committee placing 7th in a very competitive election. He was elevated to fill a term of a retiring member on October 1, 1977. He was re-elected to the School Committee in 1977 and again in 1979.

In 1981, Ray became the first member of the Worcester School Committee to ever win election to another office on his first try when he was elected to the Worcester City Council. In 1985, he was elected, by his colleagues to serve as Vice Chairman of the City Council.

Mayor of Worcester

In 1993, Ray was elected as Mayor of the City of Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

 at the time the second largest city in New England. He was reelected in 1995, 1997 and 1999. In 1997, he was elected by the largest proportion of any Mayor in Worcester’s history. (He was elected with the second largest percentage in the city's history in 1995.) He did not seek reelection in 2001. He held the position of mayor longer than anyone else in the City’s history under Plan E government and is one of only two mayor’s in the City’s history to serve four consecutive terms.

Accomplishments as Mayor

As Mayor, Ray has several accomplishments to his name. He established a highly successful committee focusing on gang and youth violence and at-risk youth. Ray personally led an effort in 2000 which created the largest summer jobs program in the City’s history creating more than 2000 jobs for at-risk young people. He also created “Operation Clean City”, a city-wide beautification program, which won an award for innovation from the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Included in this effort was the Mayor’s College Clean-Up program which collected nearly 240 tons of illegal debris in 5 years and involved thousands of students from area colleges. He also brought home the first federal grant for the rehabilitation of Union Station and led efforts to build a new convention center (now the Worcester DCU Center). Perhaps his most well-known endeavor, Ray was mayor and led the City during the tragic fire that claimed the life of 6 local firefighters.

Professional career

In 1984 and continuing through 2003, Ray worked as a marketing and management consultant with clients throughout the Northeast. He also served as a political consultant to local, state, and national candidates across the country. He has worked on the presidential campaigns of Henry "Scoop" Jackson George McGovern

George McGovern

George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....

, Al Gore

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

, and many others.

Executive Director of the Worcester Housing Authority

In 2003, he became Executive Director of the Worcester Housing Authority. This agency serves 5,000 families in 24 separate communities and is home to approximately 15,000 people. Under his leadership the agency has reduced crime by 50-75%. The agency, under Ray, has also dramatically improved the physical condition of all property and reduced maintenance response time by 75% and developed a 90+% satisfaction rate as measured by customer survey responses.

Major Reforms at WHA

In 2011, Ray took steps to convert a number of properties to be entirely smoke-free (tenants will have the option of moving to another public housing property is necessary). Later that same year, he instituted an innovative program to require public housing recipients under age 50 to either be working full time or to be in school full time, or face rent increases. He argued that public housing has become generational, rather than the short-term solution for families that it was intended to be. Mariano, a former resident of Worcester public housing himself, pitched the program as one that was designed to “make residents self-sufficient and to motivate them to move out of public housing.” The program is already seen as a "public housing revolution" that could be replicated across the country.