David Eisenthal - Biography

BIO

I was born on November 16, 1961 in California. I have lived in Massachusetts since 1963. I grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts – between Boston and Providence – where my parents still live.

I am married to Talya Westbrook, who is a fundraiser for a nearby college – as well as one of the best singers I know. We have two sons, Alex and Jack.

I graduated from Clark University in 1983 with a Bachelor’s in American History. I received my Masters degree in Public Policy in 1985 from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

I have worked since 1989 as a financial advisor to cities and towns. I help them borrow money to build schools, roads, and other public buildings. My clients are all over New England, but two long-time clients are the Town of West Brookfield and the Quaboag Regional School District. Quaboag was one of my very first clients – I started working with the District in 1989, when Warren built the Warren Community Elementary School. (I also worked with the District on the major projects at West Brookfield Elementary School and Quaboag Regional High School.) I’ve been working with the Town since 1992 – I helped Treasurer Keith Arsenault finance improvements to the Town Hall and the Merriam-Gilbert Library in the late 1990s. (Unfortunately, I will be giving up these clients shortly for obvious ethical reasons.) While I have lived in West Brookfield since 2002, I have been familiar with the Town – its people and its politics – for close to 20 years.

Before I was a financial advisor, I worked for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue in its Division of Local Services. I provided technical assistance on finance to Massachusetts cities and towns.

In 1984, I was elected to the Sharon School Committee at the age of 22 – one of the youngest elected officials in the Town’s history. Later on, I was appointed to the Framingham Permanent Building Committee; I served on that Committee for four years. While I was on that Committee, Framingham constructed a new fire department headquarters, renovated its police headquarters, and undertook a major school addition and renovation.

I have served on three non-profit boards of directors. I am currently the Vice Chairman of the Bay Path Education Foundation, which provides scholarships to students at the Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical School in Charlton.

I am also the editor and publisher of The Eisenthal Report (TER), an Internet weblog that I began in 2005. On TER, I comment about politics, culture, and public policy. I’ve interviewed people including Governor Deval Patrick, Senator John Kerry, and former Senator Mike Gravel, who has been seeking the Democratic Presidential nomination this year. You may not agree with everything I write on TER, but I hope that you come away with the sense that I write thoughtfully about important issues.