Melissa Karam Panchley graduated from BMC Durfee High School in 1991 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Human Development from Boston College in 1995.
After graduating from college, Melissa went to work at the Fall River Housing Authority for six years where she was a Youth Outreach Worker, and then the Elderly Services Coordinator. When she decided to start a family, she went to work for the family business at Karam Financial Group, where she could do bookkeeping work from home while she raised her children.
In 2009, Melissa received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
In 2011, Melissa transitioned into the role of Senior Property Manager for the adult communities managed by Karam Financial Group. In this role she is responsible for overseeing the management and physical plant of 304 apartment units on the Southcoast and Cape Cod, as well as 44 condominium units.
Melissa served on the Fall River School Committee from 2014-2017. During that time, she chaired the Finance Sub-Committee, as well as the Instructional Sub-Committee. She also served on the Superintendent search committee in 2016. After serving on the Fall River School Committee, she was the Treasurer for the New Durfee Ballot Action Committee, a ballot question committee in support of funding for a new Durfee High School.
Melissa has been involved in numerous organizations as a volunteer, such as the President of the Board of the Ninth Street Day Nursery and Vice President and Treasurer for the Friends of Saint Anne’s Hospital. She currently serves on the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce’s Sub-Committee on Education, the Board of the Greater Fall River United Way, and Treasurer of the Durfee Hilltopper Athletic Foundation.
Melissa was born and raised in Fall River and currently resides in the city with her husband, Josh and two sons, Thomas and Christopher.
Bill Straus is a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the town of Mattapoisett. He served in the House from 1993 through 2024. He did not run for re-election in 2024. He worked on a number of legislative committees during that time including as House Chair of Environment and Natural Resources from 2009 to 2010, and House Chair of Transportation from 2011 through 2024.
Bill has held a number of other public positions. From 2011 through 2024 he was co-chair of the UMass Amherst Oversight Board for the Cranberry Research station in Wareham. He was a public member of the Massachusetts Hazardous Waste Facility Site Safety Council pursuant to chapter 21D from 1987 through 1992, a member of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission from 1989 through 1992, and an Assistant District Attorney in Bristol County from 1982 through 1988.
From 2006 through 2016 he was an Adjunct Lecturer at the Boston University Law School. He was engaged in the private practice of law with an office in New Bedford until 2021.
Bill Straus received a BA from Middlebury College, his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center, and a Masters of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
