Meet the Chariman of the Board: Bruce Rabuffo

You might find him unwinding at or out to dinner with his wife at . Those are just a few of the places Board of Selectmen chairman Bruce Rabuffo frequents around Hingham, a town he moved to back in 1995. He said it was the charm of Main Street and the “historical nature of Hingham” that captured him and his wife and prompted them to move. 

Bruce hasn’t always lived in Massachusetts though. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. and lived in England for several years before moving to The Bay State.

After high school he went into the seminary, but decided it wasn’t for him, so he went to Georgetown University and worked in Congress. He then attended Pace University where he studied for his MBA.

After college, Rabuffo took a job in the corporate world with NYNEX Corporation. The company asked him to take on a major project overseas to build a telephone and cable company from scratch. He accepted and moved to London, England where he lived for over three years before moving to Hingham. 

After he retired in 1997, Rabuffo soon began volunteering in Hingham. He became vice chair of the Parish Council at and was appointed as an alternate member on the Zoning Board of Appeals.

He also helped redesign and develop the downtown area of Hingham. At this point, friends urged and pushed for him to run for selectman and he followed their advice. Rabuffo has now been on the Board of Selectmen for the past three years and is one of three board members along with John A. Riley and Laura M. Burns.

“I didn’t find a significant difference between Corporate America and Political America in the sense that they are organizations delivering a service to their constituents,” he said. 

Rabuffo believes his career has certainly helped prepare him for politics.

“When I took this responsibility on, to be a selectman, to serve the town, the people of the Town of Hingham, that means I have to be available to them,” he said.

If you telephone Rabuffo, he’ll answer or if you see him around town and want to talk to him about an issue, he’ll listen. 

When it comes to politics, “A lesson learned from being a politician is to have a smaller mouth, bigger ears,” Rabuffo said.

Right now the board is preparing for the on April 25. The selectmen are also working on putting a budget together for next year.  

“The single most important thing the board accomplished is driving and guiding the town through the economic storm,” said Rabuffo.

He is proud there have not been any layoffs and one of the first things he made sure he did in office was to create an Audit Committee.

When he’s not working on issues pertaining to the town, Rabuffo enjoys skiing and boating.  He also enjoys spending time with his two daughters, son, four grandchildren and of course his wife, Susan.  Rabuffo said she is my bride and always will be.

Rabuffo also has a motto he lives by: “Keep your sense of humor because at the end of the day nobody wants to hear a crybaby.”

The Board of Selectmen meets every Tuesday, unless otherwise posted, at 7:30 p.m. in the North Hearing Room at .  You can find Rabuffo there every week, listening to people and handling issue around Hingham, the town that he loves.