JCRC President Settles into Nation's Capital
By Kristin Erekson
The Jewish Advocate
Barney Frank appoints James Segel as special counsel for House Financial Services Committee
As an undergraduate student at Harvard University in the 1960s, former Boston attorney James Segel turned to his adviser Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) for guidance in government and politics.
Now Segel is the one doing the advising after having recently been appointed as special counsel to Frank, who is currently the new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee in Washington, D.C.
Though the new position brings great opportunities for the future, Segel said it is also forcing him to step down from his role as the president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston this coming June.
"Frank felt that he wanted [to work with] someone he knew for a long time and trusted," added Segel, who left the law firm Smith, Segel & Sowalsky to start his new job on Tuesday. "The demands on his time are going to be great. [But] I'm looking forward to working with Congress and the Chairman, who has a powerful agenda."
Splitting his time between working in the nation's capital and Boston, Segel is primarily responsible for serving as a liaison for financial and advocacy interests to Frank. He will also play a significant role in policymaking.
The first issue to be tackled, Frank said, focuses on creating legislation to monitor executive pay and to give shareholders a greater say over how much money chief executive officers make.
"I have great responsibility and I need help in dealing with it," Frank added. "Segel has a great range of experience and he understands politics."
Frank noted that the choice to make his longtime friend his right-hand man was based on a similar decision made by the late U.S. House Speaker Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill, Jr.: Leo Diehl, who served as a state tax commissioner and passed away in September, rose among the ranks after O'Neill put him in charge of handling patronage and fund-raising.
However, Segel and Frank have worked together before, when both were elected to the state Legislature in 1972. And Frank insists that their friendship will not be ruined by business.
"He's helped me and I've helped him," he added. "[Our friendship] is not going to be an issue."
While Frank has gained a hard-working employee, Boston's Jewish community has lost "a terrific leader," said Nancy K. Kaufman, executive director of the JCRC.
While Segel is not permitted to lobby on Capitol Hill, he will still be available to the organization as an adviser, Kaufman added.
"[Segel] is a thoughtful and careful advocate and thinker," Kaufman said. "He's just very solid and knowledgeable and cares deeply about Israel. I fully expect him to continue as a lay leader with the work at the JCRC."
