Ward 5 Alderman Courtney O'Keefe
Courtney O'Keefe
Courtney O'Keefe
(617) 224-8328
Board of Aldermen: April 25, 2013-Present
Committees: Confirmation of Appointments, Traffic and Parking, Public Utilities and Public Works (Chair), Veterans and Public Services (Chair).
Board of Aldermen: April 25, 2013-Present
Committees: Confirmation of Appointments, Traffic and Parking, Public Utilities and Public Works (Chair), Veterans and Public Services (Chair).
I was born and raised in the City of Somerville where I continue to make my home near the Magoun Square business district.
I attended Saint Ann's Elementary School, went on to Matignon High School and finishing with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Regis College. I was a student-athlete throughout my high school and college days, running Cross Country in the Fall sports season.
My political life began with a public relations internship in the State House office of the late Senator Charles Shannon during the summer of 2001. That summer, I wrote press releases that spoke of raising the minimum wage and the importance of social service agencies, as well as, congratulation letters to such amazing grant recipients as CASPAR and the Somerville Home. I still have these press releases should you ever want to read them!
In Somerville, I served as a strong advocate for Magoun Square and maintained a website dedicated to Ward 5 (Ward5Online.Com). I was appointed as a Human Rights Commissioner in November of 2012, Ward 5 representative on the Zoning Advisory Committee in early 2013, and Board of Advisors for CASPAR all while working a very fulfilling job as an Administrative Specialist at Local 103, I.B.E.W in Dorchester, MA.
I have previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for Somerville Local First and was a proud owner of stocks during the Somerville Stock Exchange project. You may have seen me at Somerville Open Studios, The Memorial Day Parade, ArtBeat, Honk!, SomerStreets, helping clean Magoun Square with other residents, at our awesome local businesses, Farmers Markets, sitting at Board of Aldermen meetings on Channel 22 and 13, or running in one of Somerville's many road races.
Somerville Journal 2/1/2013: Time for the Sign in Somerville's Magoun Square
Somerville Patch 2/4/2013: Letter to the Editor: Magoun Square Wants a Sign
Somerville News 2/26/2013: A Butcher, A Baker, A Greek Food Maker
Somerville News 3/20/2013: Greater Access Initiative for Off-Leash Dogs
Somerville.Patch.Com 3/27/2013: 20 People Who Will Sway Somerville Zoning Overhaul
Boston.Com 4/11/2013: Somerville Alderman O'Donovan Resigns, No Appointment Yet
Somerville Journal 4/11/2013: Somerville Alderman Sean O'Donovan Resigning, O'Keefe Nominated to Fill Seat
Somerville Journal 4/11/2013: Somerville Aldermen Hold Off on Replacing O'Donovan with O'Keefe in Ward 5
Somerville Scout 4/11/2013: Ward 5 Shocker! O'Donovan Stepping Down
Somerville News 4/12/2013: Alderman O'Donovan Resigns
Somerville Patch 4/12/2013: Ward 5 Alderman Sean O'Donovan Steps Down
Boston.Com 4/15/2013: Review of Somerville Alderman Appointee Set for Wednesday
Boston.Com 4/17/2013: Special Aldermen Meeting Cancelled in Somerville
Somerville News 4/17/2013: Committee on Confirmation of Appointments Questions O'Keefe
Somerville Journal 4/17/2013: Somerville Aldermen Vote Unanimously to Recommend O'Keefe for Approval
Somerville Journal 4/18/2013: Somerville Aldermen Endorse O'Keefe for Ward 5 Spot
Boston.Com 4/24/2013: Somerville Aldermen to Reconsider Appointment of O'Keefe to the Board
Boston.Com 4/25/2013: O'Keefe Appointed to Somerville Board of Aldermen
Somerville Scout 4/25/2013: O'Keefe Appointed as Ward 5 Alderman
Boston.Com 4/26/2013: Somerville Aldermen Look to End Handed-Down Appointments
Somerville News 5/1/2013: O'Keefe Sworn in as new Ward 5 Alderman
Scout Somerville 5/1/2013: Magoun Square's Sign Up, Then Down
Somerville Journal 5/1/2013: 2 Won't Seek Re-Election to Somerville School Committee
Somerville News 5/12/2013: Residents Invited to Groundbreaking Ceremony for Community Path Extension.
Somerville Journal 5/14/2013: Officials Break Ground on Bike Path Extension in Somerville.
Somerville News 5/15/2013: Community Path Extension Underway.
Scout Somerville 5/15/2013: O'Keefe Responds to Homophobic Backlash
Boston.Com 5/15/2013: Somerville Alderwoman says she was target of homophobic slurs.
Somerville Journal 5/15/2013: Editorial: Rejecting Offensive Remarks in Somerville
Somerville Patch 5/16/2013: Anti-Lesbian Comments Cause Stir, Targeted Alderman Wants to Move On
2012
2011
Boston.Com 1/14/2011: Cast of Characters Collects at Winter Farmer's Market
2010
2009
Photo Credit: Uknown Corresponding article: http://bo.st/4bApjb Caption: "Courtney O'Keefe and others asked the Traffic Board to repeal the new rules." Date: August of 2009
Somerville Journal 9/10/2009: Twitter explodes with Somerville’s fireworks
Somerville Journal 12/23/2009: In the spirit of Festivus, a call for complaints
2008
Somerville Journal Blog 10/20/2008: Leaves change, other things don’t
My political life began with a public relations internship in the State House office of the late Senator Charles Shannon during the summer of 2001. That summer, I wrote press releases that spoke of raising the minimum wage and the importance of social service agencies, as well as, congratulation letters to such amazing grant recipients as CASPAR and the Somerville Home. I still have these press releases should you ever want to read them!
In Somerville, I served as a strong advocate for Magoun Square and maintained a website dedicated to Ward 5 (Ward5Online.Com). I was appointed as a Human Rights Commissioner in November of 2012, Ward 5 representative on the Zoning Advisory Committee in early 2013, and Board of Advisors for CASPAR all while working a very fulfilling job as an Administrative Specialist at Local 103, I.B.E.W in Dorchester, MA.
I have previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for Somerville Local First and was a proud owner of stocks during the Somerville Stock Exchange project. You may have seen me at Somerville Open Studios, The Memorial Day Parade, ArtBeat, Honk!, SomerStreets, helping clean Magoun Square with other residents, at our awesome local businesses, Farmers Markets, sitting at Board of Aldermen meetings on Channel 22 and 13, or running in one of Somerville's many road races.
Press:
2013
Somerville News 1/31/2013: Sign of the TimesSomerville Journal 2/1/2013: Time for the Sign in Somerville's Magoun Square
Somerville Patch 2/4/2013: Letter to the Editor: Magoun Square Wants a Sign
Somerville News 2/26/2013: A Butcher, A Baker, A Greek Food Maker
Somerville News 3/20/2013: Greater Access Initiative for Off-Leash Dogs
Somerville.Patch.Com 3/27/2013: 20 People Who Will Sway Somerville Zoning Overhaul
Boston.Com 4/11/2013: Somerville Alderman O'Donovan Resigns, No Appointment Yet
Somerville Journal 4/11/2013: Somerville Alderman Sean O'Donovan Resigning, O'Keefe Nominated to Fill Seat
Somerville Journal 4/11/2013: Somerville Aldermen Hold Off on Replacing O'Donovan with O'Keefe in Ward 5
Somerville Scout 4/11/2013: Ward 5 Shocker! O'Donovan Stepping Down
Somerville News 4/12/2013: Alderman O'Donovan Resigns
Somerville Patch 4/12/2013: Ward 5 Alderman Sean O'Donovan Steps Down
Boston.Com 4/15/2013: Review of Somerville Alderman Appointee Set for Wednesday
Boston.Com 4/17/2013: Special Aldermen Meeting Cancelled in Somerville
Somerville News 4/17/2013: Committee on Confirmation of Appointments Questions O'Keefe
Somerville Journal 4/17/2013: Somerville Aldermen Vote Unanimously to Recommend O'Keefe for Approval
Somerville Journal 4/18/2013: Somerville Aldermen Endorse O'Keefe for Ward 5 Spot
Boston.Com 4/24/2013: Somerville Aldermen to Reconsider Appointment of O'Keefe to the Board
Boston.Com 4/25/2013: O'Keefe Appointed to Somerville Board of Aldermen
Somerville Scout 4/25/2013: O'Keefe Appointed as Ward 5 Alderman
Boston.Com 4/26/2013: Somerville Aldermen Look to End Handed-Down Appointments
Somerville News 5/1/2013: O'Keefe Sworn in as new Ward 5 Alderman
Scout Somerville 5/1/2013: Magoun Square's Sign Up, Then Down
Somerville Journal 5/1/2013: 2 Won't Seek Re-Election to Somerville School Committee
Somerville News 5/12/2013: Residents Invited to Groundbreaking Ceremony for Community Path Extension.
Somerville Journal 5/14/2013: Officials Break Ground on Bike Path Extension in Somerville.
Somerville News 5/15/2013: Community Path Extension Underway.
Scout Somerville 5/15/2013: O'Keefe Responds to Homophobic Backlash
Boston.Com 5/15/2013: Somerville Alderwoman says she was target of homophobic slurs.
Somerville Journal 5/15/2013: Editorial: Rejecting Offensive Remarks in Somerville
Somerville Patch 5/16/2013: Anti-Lesbian Comments Cause Stir, Targeted Alderman Wants to Move On
2012
Somerville Journal 3/27/2012: Somerville lowers seating requirements for local beer, wine licenses
Somerville Journal 4/12/2012: Central Street neighbors shaken by recent Somerville shooting
Somerville.Patch.Com 4/16/2012: Somerville Fortune Tellers Now Need a License
Somerville Journal 4/19/2012: City Tries to Take Care of Business (scan)
Somerville Journal 4/26/2012: Somerville board requires license for fortunetelling
Somerville Scout 7/13/2012: Two Squares. One Ward
Somerville Journal 7/18/2012: Somerville's Tavern On The Hill ordered to close early
Somerville News 9/12/2012: Letter of Thanks
Somerville News 9/19/2012: First Annual Ryan Harrington Corn Toss Tournament Nets $13K
Somerville News 9/12/2012: Letter of Thanks
Somerville News 9/19/2012: First Annual Ryan Harrington Corn Toss Tournament Nets $13K
Somerville Scout Photo Credit 10/16/2012: Somerville Stained Glass Studio to Close
2011
Boston.Com 1/14/2011: Cast of Characters Collects at Winter Farmer's Market
Somerville.Patch.Com 3/28/2011: Get the 311 on the City of Somerville's Social Media Savvy
Boston.Com 4/1/2011: Sharing a cup of Joe with the mayor
Somerville Journal 11/10/2011: Ask Joe: What's Your Vision for Magoun Square?
Somerville Journal 11/10/2011: Ask Joe: What's Your Vision for Magoun Square?
2010
Boston.Com 2/22/2010: Green Line extension begins surveying in Somerville
Boston.Com 4/12/2010: Magoun wary of parking problems
Somerville Journal 4/13/2010: Column: Somerville's Magoun Square needs business plan
Somerville News 4/14/2010: Letter to the editor
Somerville Journal 6/2/2010: Spring delights in Ward 5
Boston.Com 7/23/2010: Finding the Somerville Blog Scene
Boston.Com 9/3/2010: Roadwork (finally) nears end
Mike's Auto Blog Post 9/24/2010: Ward 5 is Alive!
Somerville Journal 10/11/2010: Playing hide-n-seek in Somerville’s new recycling bins
2009
Photo Credit: Uknown Corresponding article: http://bo.st/4bApjb Caption: "Courtney O'Keefe and others asked the Traffic Board to repeal the new rules." Date: August of 2009
Somerville Journal 9/10/2009: Twitter explodes with Somerville’s fireworks
2008
Somerville Journal Blog 10/20/2008: Leaves change, other things don’t
Ward 5