Arroyo to be City’s Health and Human Services chief

City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo, a Jamaica Plain resident, will be the City’s new chief of Health and Human Services, incoming Mayor Marty Walsh announced today.

Arroyo will start the job tomorrow, Walsh said this morning on WCVB-TV’s “On the Record.”

Arroyo ran his own mayoral campaign last year. After losing in the preliminary election, he became a key supporter of Walsh’s campaign.

Among Arroyo’s efforts on the City Council was investigating causes of Boston’s high asthma rates. Arroyo himself suffers from asthma.

The City’s previous Human Services chief, Daphne Griffin, also is a JP resident.

Under outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino, the Human Services department included Boston Centers for Youth & Families, the Office of Civil Rights, the Disabilities Commission, the Elderly Commission, the Emergency Shelter Commission, the Veteran’s Services Department, the Women’s Fund and the Youth Fund. Under Menino in recent years, the department did not have “Health” in its title, and Walsh may be restructuring it. The separate Boston Public Health Commission has long been led by JP resident Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

Felix G. Arroyo. (Courtesy Photo)

Felix G. Arroyo. (Courtesy Photo)

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