In yesterday's town hall meeting in Groton, the governor arrived at just after 6:30 p.m., accompanied by an entourage of state aides and local legislators (and his dog, Toby). It actually wasn't held in a town hall at all, but outside the town library, in front of a gazebo bedecked with red, white, and blue banners, in the middle of a freshly mowed field.
The governor, dressed in his shirt-sleeves on this warm summer evening, addressed the crowd of about 80, who were seated on a small hillside in front of him, and took questions from about a dozen of them. To give credit where credit is due, I think these events are a good idea, at least from a campaign perspective.
They get the governor out of Boston and around the state, where he can listen to people who have a wider range of perspectives and concerns than he would normally find at the State House. They also put him in touch with the local media across the state, and away from the sameness of the daily coverage in The Globe.
And Patrick is clearly in his element at these meetings. He's loose, personable, and he listens closely to each speaker. He's also quick on his feet and up on the issues. At least up to a point.
And that gets me to what seems to me to be his major weakness as both a leader and a campaigner. This may say something about why he's struggling in the polls. He's good in front of these crowds, but not great. He's well spoken, but he doesn't inspire. At least in my view, he doesn't convey a sense that once he leaves the event he's going to get to the bottom of the issues and concerns he's been listening to.
Here's one example from yesterday. A group of parents was there on the hillside with their children who live at the Seven Hills Pediatric Center, a state-licensed skilled nursing home for profoundly mentally retarded children. Those children are facing eviction from the center by the Department of Developmental Services, which wants to place them in community-based group homes around the state.
By way of disclosure, I was at the meeting to hand in a statement and ask a question (I wasn't picked) about a similar situation occurring at the Fernald Developmental Center. Frank Voss, a Seven Hills parent, who was picked by the governor, explained that the administration's “Community First” initiative, under which these evictions are taking place, will result in the deaths of many of the Seven Hills residents. There will never be equal or better care for them in community-based group homes, he contended.
Patrick responded with what seemed to be a complete non sequitur. “Community First doesn't mean community only,” he said. Leaving aside the fact that that slogan didn't respond to what Voss was saying, many of us knew from experience that DDS's policy and philosophy is, indeed, “community only.” That Patrick doesn't seem to understand this, and, moreover, doesn't seem to care, is an indication to me of that weakness as a leader.
At one point, both Voss and another Seven Hills parent, seemed to finally convince Patrick that DDS was ignoring the advice of clinicians at Seven Hills in making decisions to transfer most of the children elsewhere. “If that's the case, then something is broken,” Patrick said.
It seemed like a breakthrough moment. The entire crowd applauded. But it was only a moment. There was no sense, at least to me, that Patrick would follow up on at in the days to come, get to the bottom of it and do something about it. And, at least to me, that would have been the sign of a true leader and a great campaigner.
when you say you have no background in the subjects I’ve been posting about and no way of evaluating the merit of my arguments. I’ve been posting for close to two years here about a major policy of the Patrick administration–the privatization of services to the mentally retarded.
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p>The trend toward privatization, particularly of human services, has been one of the most hotly debated issues in the public-sector throughout the country over the past two decades. BlueMass Group is a blog primarily about the public sector. I can understand that you may not have read many of my posts–the BMG editors have rarely commented on them–but I have to think that you have some backround in this overall issue. You certainly have immersed yourself in the health care issue, which is closely related in many ways.
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p>If you want more background in the privatization issue, I’d humbly suggest that you start with my previous posts. Some good books on this subject–although they range far beyond human services–are The Privatization Decision, by John Donahue. Also, The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, and America’s Hollow Government, by Mark Goldstein, discuss many of the downsides of unfettered privatization–something that I’ve been very concerned about in light of the race by administrations in Massachusetts going back to Gov. Weld to privatize remaining services to the mentally ill and mentally retarded.
I do often read the posts, but again, without knowing the issue personally as you do. I hear claims of dire consequences of privatization of these services; but in any event, I would need to have outside, third-party background to feel comfortable with an issue.
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p>I will poke around, and ask around.
I would welcome yours and everyone’s scrutiny of the concerns I and others have raised, not only about privatization, but about the overall relinquishing of governmental responsibility in the delivery of human services. None of us pretends to know everything about these issues; and one of the reasons we’ve posted on this site is to stimulate discussion and debate.
I realize that the state is paying for the governor’s security at these things, and that is how it should be. Aside from that, I always presumed that this is fully bankrolled by the DP Committee.
I thought they were ‘official’ visits. Does anybody know who’s picking up the tab?
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p>Had one in my town, he got slammed on inaction on Cape insurance crisis.
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p>BUT – saw on the news that he’s having his hip replaced, been in pain, etc. Might explain why such an allegedly spellbinding speaker, inspirational figure, etc., etc., always seems so…fussy…
DP Committee people are signing folks in, collecting contact information, and generally policing the events at the Wareham town hall. I suspect it’s being paid for the DP Cte….if not, the Mass GOP would be well served to file a complaint. (BTW, If state funds are paying for this, I would strongly suggest that Baker, Cahill, and Mihos send people to the next town hall to collect info.)