Study Group with Congressman Rodney Davis: Can Republicans and Democrats who were Classmates and Political Opponents be Friends in Today's Polarized Environment?

Before being elected to Congress, your Fellow lost a race for Mayor of Taylorville, Illinois by 55 votes. His former college classmate who beat him and now Massachusetts official, Jim Montgomery, will discuss how politics should not get in the way of friendships.

GUESTS: Jim Montgomery will join Resident Fellow, Rodney Davis, in-person for the November 30th session.

A native of central Illinois, Jim Montgomery was elected Mayor of the City of Taylorville at the age of 27; he served two terms (1997-2005). 

Jim attended the Program for State and Local Executives in June 2005; three weeks later, he and his wife relocated with their four young children to Cambridge for Jim to begin the Masters in Public Administration Mid-Career program.  He received his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2006.

Jim has served as the Director of Administration and Finance with the Boston Emergency Medical Services (Boston EMS); Vice President of Client Relations with Intermedix Corporation; Partner with CBG Consulting; Director of Administration and Finance with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and then as the Commissioner of that agency.

Jim has also served as the Transitions Coordinator for State and Local Governments and a strategic consultant.  He currently serves as the Director of Administrative Services for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department.  He holds a Bachelors degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.  His family resides in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston.

AUDIENCE: These conversations are open to members of the Harvard community. Please RSVP with a valid Harvard email address.

OFF-THE-RECORD: In keeping with our long tradition at the IOP to ensure honest and candid discussions of politics, all IOP study groups are off-the-record.