But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Tempers began flaring last month over the treatment of Marcel Vernon Sr., the first Black person to oversee the MCCA. He was only in the role for just over a year before the board that oversees the authority decided he had to go.

Why? It’s still hard to say whether the problem was Vernon, or the MCCA, which came under fire previously for its treatment of Black and Hispanic employees and lack of supplier diversity. Vernon was brought in part to repair the quasi-public agency’s reputation with people of color.

So when there were efforts to oust him in December, Black leaders sent a scathing letter to Healey calling on her to shake up the MCCA’s 13-member MCCA board and replace chair Emme Handy, whom Healey appointed in 2023.

Vernon was the latest in a string of Black CEOs and presidents who have departed local institutions from Harvard University to Brigham & Women’s Hospital over the past two years. The letter, signed by the heads of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, aimed to address a troubling question: Why do Black leaders struggle to succeed here, and what can be done about it?

“When Black executives become the center of public controversy without full context and without the institutional support historically afforded to others, the resulting narratives can unfairly narrow future opportunities — not just for one individual, but for many,“ the letter said. ”It speaks directly to whether our public systems genuinely support the leaders they appoint to confront entrenched inequities and structural challenges.”

The last thing the governor needed, as she ramps up her re-election campaign, are bad headlines about how she has upset the Black community. So the governor invited close to a dozen Black leaders to her State House office to talk about Vernon.

Beyond the letter, the leaders made another ask at the meeting: That the governor remain committed to Black leadership at MCCA and not let the authority’s first Black CEO be its last.

The governor, I’m told, was none too happy being publicly called out by folks she considered to be allies. And some Black leaders in the room, I’m told, left disappointed, expecting a bit more understanding from Healey.

But just before Christmas, something changed. Call it a Christmas miracle.

While Healey is standing by Hande as board chair, the governor followed through on seeking out Black candidates. Barros emerged as a frontrunner not only because he is Black but uniquely qualified. He ran the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, served as chief economic officer under former Mayor Marty Walsh, and twice ran for mayor himself.

Barros’s name had surfaced during the previous MCCA CEO search in 2024. But at the time Barros, who had recently left a big job at real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, wasn’t interested. His one-year-old son, Christian, had just been diagnosed with a rare cancer. Christian passed away last January.

This time, when the governor’s office approached Barros he was in a better position to consider it. He talked to all the board members including Handy, who he knew well from their time working together in the Walsh administration. (Handy herself has a big job now as chief financial officer of the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard, which might explain why the governor might not want her off the authority board.)

Just after New Year’s, the board seemed ready to move on Barros, and on Jan. 9 tapped him as the interim chief of the 400-person organization charged with managing the major convention centers and bringing visitors to the state.

“It’s an excellent move by the governor,” said Herby Duverné, chief executive of security firm Windwalker Group and chair of BECMA.

Barros is also seen as a good choice, given his experience leading economic development under Walsh, which had him working with MCCA to bring conventions like the NAACP to Boston. He also knows how to navigate local politics, which is critical for the role.

“We are appreciative of the governor moving quickly,” added Rahsaan Hall, chief executive of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. “We’re cautiously optimistic this will work out well.”

I’m hoping Barros will stay on as interim CEO at least until the end of the year; if he’s able to fix MCCA’s problems he should have the job permanently. The agency is in dire need of stability, having cycled through four leaders in as many years.

And this is not the year for chaos, with Boston hosting the World Cup, the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, and the return of Tall Ships to Boston Harbor.

Perhaps the biggest lesson here — which speaks to the governor’s political acumen — is that she and her team know how to read a room. Rather than let an important relationship with the Black community deteriorate, she found a way to swiftly start mending fences — while strengthening a key government agency in the process.

Little guy 1, Bill Galvin 0: In December, I wrote about Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s attempt to prevent a gourmet cheese-and-wine shop in Brighton from getting its liquor license. Galvin lives nine houses away, and he was the ringleader among his neighbors (including Boston College) to prevent Mattie’s Provisions and Spirits from opening up. The Boston Licensing Board awarded Mattie’s a license, but Galvin appealed to the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission questioning whether the board had made the right decision. On Jan. 2, he got an answer: The commission sided with the Boston board. Drink up, Brighton!

Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.