Nils Nordberg. (Courtesy photo)
Former Slough Road resident Nils Nordberg was honored recently by the Massachusetts Legislators Association with its 2014 Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his lifetime of outstanding public service to the commonwealth.
First elected to the House of Representatives in 1968 to serve the towns of North Reading, Reading, and Stoneham, Nordberg went on to be reelected to four more terms, serving on the comm
ittees on public safety, commerce and labor, taxation, and bills. He was the primary author of Proposition 2½, which restrains property tax increases while allowing citizens to agree to tax growth by voting for local overrides. He wrote the argument for beverage container return deposits that appeared on the state ballot for the initiative petition when citizens adopted the deposit law. He was the initial speaker in support of a law to legalize Medical Proxy in Massachusetts.
After leaving the Legislature in 1979, Nordberg stayed active in the legislative arena as Vice-President and Legislative Chair of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and held positions with the Smaller Business Association of New England and the National Federation of Independent Business. He was also an elected assessor in Reading.
In 1990 Governor William Weld called on Nordberg to serve as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training, a position Nils held until retiring in 1999. During this period Nordberg led many committees and boards.
After retiring from state government, Nordberg served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Collectors and Treasurers Association from 1999-2008, coordinating educational programs and legislative contacts for the state’s city, town, county, and district collectors and treasurers.
While living in Harvard with his wife, Linda, Nils served the Harvard Conservation Trust as a board member and treasurer, and he served the town as a member of the Community Preservation Committee, of which he was the first chairman. Nils and Linda now live in Louisville, Colo., but return to New England to visit their home at Moody Beach in Maine twice a year.
