For Immediate Release: 12/6/2024 4:08 pm
WORCESTER, Mass. – City Manager Eric D. Batista announced Friday the retirement of City Solicitor Michael E. Traynor, effective Jan. 10, 2025.
Traynor has been a dedicated and well-respected City of Worcester employee for 37 years. Known as a talented negotiator and an expert in the field of municipal law, he was appointed City Solicitor in January of 2020.
“I want to congratulate Mike on an impressive and impactful tenure as a public servant to the City of Worcester,” said Batista. “His dedication to this community is unmatched and his legacy will remain through the numerous policies and economic development projects he led, of which the city stands to benefit for years to come.”
Traynor began his career with the City of Worcester in January 1988 as an Assistant City Solicitor and was promoted to Deputy City Solicitor in 1994. In February 2014, he was appointed the Acting Chief Development Officer, while continuing his role as Deputy City Solicitor. In November 2014, then-City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr. appointed Traynor as the municipality’s permanent Chief Development Officer.
“I am incredibly grateful and proud to have worked 37 years in service to the City of Worcester,” said Traynor. “I have countless memories of the city employees I have worked with, the lawyers I encountered on the other side of the table, and projects I have worked on over the years. A municipal lawyer is a generalist wrapped in a specialty practice, and it has been immensely satisfying to navigate this field of law to support and further the different administrations’ visions to make Worcester a better place. While I have predominately been a city attorney, it was my tenure as Chief Development Officer that produced the highlight of my career: being a part of the team that brought the WooSox to Worcester and the construction of Polar Park.”
In his various roles as Assistant, Deputy and head City Solicitor, Traynor provided legal advice and work product for countless city projects and departments such as the restoration of Union Station, the DCU Center, Convention Center project, Worcester Technical High School, the transformative Gardner Kilby Hammond project, the sale of the Belmont Home, and the sale of the Lincoln Square Boys Club. He also negotiated three cable television renewal licenses and served as counsel to several boards including the Worcester Auditorium Board of Trustees and the Planning Board.
During his tenure as Chief Development Officer, Traynor played a critical role in major development efforts involving the acquisition, disposition, and redevelopment of the former Worcester County Courthouse and the development of the South Worcester Industrial Park. He was a key player in the negotiations that successfully landed the Triple A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox to relocate to Worcester in 2021, and Traynor was instrumental in the development plan for Polar Park in the city’s burgeoning Canal District.
Traynor represents the city on the board of directors for the Upper Blackstone Clean Water and is on the board of directors for the Worcester Credit Union. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Suffolk University Law School.
The administration is exploring its options for the role of City Solicitor and will communicate its plan prior to Traynor’s departure.
