McDermott to step down early

Allston-Brighton may spend several months without a city councilor.

Councilor Jerry McDermott will not finish out his term and is stepping down as soon as Sept. 1 to take over as executive director of South Shore Habitat for Humanity.

“I’m really excited to serve as executive director,” he said. “I announced back in the spring that I would not seek re-election to another term. I immediately started thinking about what was next.”

McDermott notified his colleagues Saturday, June 21, that he has taken a job with the South Shore nonprofit that builds homes for the poor.

McDermott said he had raised money in the past for Habitat for Humanity, but it wasn’t until his job search that he thought about working there. He said a speech by former U.S. McDermott once worked on City Councilor Bruce Bolling’s staff but left to run for City Council in 1993. A frequent candidate since then, McDermott finally won a seat during a special election in 2002, when he replaced Brian Honan, who died after cancer surgery.

 “I’m going to miss the camaraderie,” McDermott said. “The group of people that I served with, they’re really, really good souls. I don’t think everyone in that building gets enough credit.”

McDermott said he’s most proud of his measures that reduced speeds around playgrounds from 30 mph to 20 mph, and a battle with NStar [NST] that he won, convincing the utility provider to spend $4.7 million to fix an electric substation in Allston.

McDermott, who lives in Brighton, said in September he’ll move to a house he bought, gutted, remodeled and had been renting out in Westwood. He said it will end more than 30 years of living in the city.

 “I’ve been involved in a lot of small David and Goliath battles, but I’ve always been in the thick of it,” he said. “It’s time for me and my family to make a move.”