BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press
STEVE LeBLANC, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — “I am an optimist,” Gov. Deval Patrick said in his first inauguration speech, “but not a foolish one.”
Spoken amid the celebratory atmosphere of that January 2007 day in which Massachusetts welcomed Patrick, the state’s first black governor and first Democratic governor in 16 years, those words seem prescient now as he prepares to hand his office keys over to Charlie Baker — a Republican — on Jan. 8.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press, Patrick reflected on the highs and lows of his tenure, an administration that pushed a vision of prosperity for all but, at times, found itself mired by inevitable breakdowns in the existing machinery of government.
Patrick optimistically saw a Massachusetts that would boast cutting-edge industries, revitalized cities, gleaming new infrastructure and be warmed by solar and other renewable energy sources. Summoning memories of his childhood in the tough South Side of Chicago, he demanded an education system that narrowed the achievement gap between students from underprivileged urban neighborhoods and those from wealthier suburbs.
“I’m proud of the fact that we have come out of the recession stronger than we were, that we’ve got a 25-year high in employment, that the innovation sectors of biotech and life sciences, clean tech, the major digital technologies, advanced manufacturing all are on fire in real terms and certainly relative to the rest of the country, in some cases the rest of the world,” he said.
“I’m proud of the fact that our students are number one in student achievement, that almost everybody in the Commonwealth has access to affordable health care,” he added.
But indeed it would have been foolish to expect no pitfalls along the way.
There were early stumbles — Patrick was criticized for what some called extravagant spending on office furnishings and an official state vehicle in the first weeks of his administration. His second term was marked by a rash of setbacks, including the disappearance and death of a 5-year-old boy that prompted a shake-up at the state’s child welfare agency, a drug lab scandal that jeopardized thousands of criminal cases, and a disastrous breakdown of the state’s once-vaunted health connector website. He leaves as Massachusetts faces a budget deficit his staff pegs at $329 million and others say is much larger.
Patrick said he still grapples with the significance of being the nation’s second-elected black governor, but noted that the first — former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder — once said the distinction meant nothing if there wasn’t a second. In that respect, Patrick said he faced expectations unlike other governors.
“Every time race comes up you get asked a question, whether it comes up here or somewhere else in the country, I’m expected to have a point of view about it,” he said.
Though the former U.S. assistant attorney general never ran for political office before 2006, Patrick’s grassroots organizing skills and oratorical talents energized progressive Democrats in Massachusetts.
Frustrated at times by what he perceived as a retreat from party values, he famously implored delegates to “grow a backbone” at a 2012 Democratic state convention that endorsed Elizabeth Warren for the U.S. Senate. Warren would defeat Republican Scott Brown, who had embarrassed Democrats two years earlier by winning a special election for the seat held by the late Edward Kennedy.
Now Patrick regularly fields questions about his own future, including the possibility of a White House bid.
Conditions would have to be right — for his family, for himself and for his chances — in order to consider such a run, Patrick said. Even if the stars aligned, Patrick was cagey.
“I might give it a shot,” he said. He has ruled out 2016.
Though disappointed that Baker — whom Patrick beat four years ago— narrowly defeated Democrat Martha Coakley this year, Patrick pledged a smooth transfer of power.
“It behooves the interests of the people I serve and he is about to serve that he succeed,” Patrick said.
While his economic record will be debated, Massachusetts by most accounts recovered from the Great Recession faster than much of the nation and the state’s unemployment rate was below that of the nation throughout much of Patrick’s administration. An example of his focus on “brain power” industries included a 10-year, $1 billion initiative to bolster the state’s growing life sciences sector, though some critics complained Patrick played favorites with certain industries at the expense of others.
His legacy will also include the legalization of casino gambling, but Patrick has insisted that casinos were never a central piece of his economic strategy.
Patrick said being governor was a “gas” and what he liked most was encountering ordinary citizens who often spontaneously shared their deeply personal concerns.
“It’s not always a compliment, it’s not always a critique,” he said, “it’s just an insight into their lives and if you’re listening hard, it makes you a better governor.”
Here is a look at the ups and downs of Patrick’s administration
GROUNDBREAKING VICTORY
Patrick, a former assistant US attorney general in the civil rights division and Coca-Cola executive easily defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey in the 2006 gubernatorial election. He was sworn in as governor on Jan. 4, 2007, accepting in his inauguration speech what he called a “profound responsibility.” Patrick, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, was the state’s first black governor and only the nation’s second-elected black chief executive after former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder. He won a second term in 2010 after a hard-fought race with Republican Charlie Baker. Baker will now succeed Patrick after defeating Democrat Martha Coakley in November.
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN/REVIVAL
Massachusetts suffered, with the rest of the nation, the impact of the Great Recession that began about a year after Patrick took office. Overall employment dropped from an estimated 3,312,100 jobs in November 2007 to a low of 3,184,200 in October 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Patrick was forced to lay off thousands of state workers and cut deeply into the budget, including some social safety net programs and municipal aid. But Massachusetts would outpace much of the nation in recovering from the economic downturn. The state’s unemployment rate remained below the U.S. rate for nearly all of Patrick’s administration and by November 2014, employment in Massachusetts was estimated at 3,438,500 — more than a quarter of a million more jobs than in October 2009.
BETTING ON BIOTECH
Patrick saw the burgeoning life sciences industry as a potential key driver of the state’s economic future and believed state government could play a role in nurturing that sector. Among his early legislative successes in 2008 was a 10-year, $1 billion initiative to invest in biotechnology, medical device and related companies. The Dukakis Center at Northeastern University said in a June report that employment in the industry had grown by 17.5 percent since 2006 and that Massachusetts had the nation’s highest per capita employment in life sciences.
ROLLING THE DICE
Patrick once complained that the long debate over casino gambling at the Statehouse was “sucking all the oxygen out of the building.” Patrick refused to sign a casino bill in 2010 because of concerns that it would essentially give racetracks no-bid contracts to install slots machines. But he would sign off the following year on a re-crafted bill that allows for three regional resort casinos and one slots parlor. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, created under the law, has since awarded licenses for casino developments in Springfield and Everett, and a slots parlor is slated to open next year in Plainville.
TERROR ATTACK
Patrick has said in the past that the April 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line, and the days that followed rank as the most emotional and trying of his administration. Four days after the bombing, after one of the two brothers suspected in the attack was killed in a shootout with police, Patrick issued an extraordinary “shelter-in-place” directive to more than one million Boston-area residents, virtually shutting down a large swath of the metropolitan region while police searched for the other suspect. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured hours later, hiding in a boat in Watertown, shortly after the lockdown was lifted.
SECOND TERM WOES
A series of setbacks buffeted Patrick’s second term, with critics pointing to management failures in state government. The disappearance of a 5-year-old boy — later found dead — exposed weaknesses in the state’s child welfare agency. A chemist in a state drug testing lab was charged and later convicted of tampering with evidence, throwing in doubt thousands of criminal convictions. The state struggled with the rollout of a voter-approved medical marijuana program and not a single dispensary has yet opened in Massachusetts. And a breakdown of the health connector website blocked a smooth transition from the state’s first-in-the-nation universal health insurance system to the federal Affordable Care Act, forcing hundreds of thousands of people into temporary Medicaid coverage.
TRANSPORTATION TRAVAILS
Rebuilding the state’s decaying transportation infrastructure was one of Patrick’s key priorities during his two terms, with mixed results. Lawmakers rejected an early proposal by Patrick to raise the state’s gasoline tax by 19 cents. In 2013, a transportation financing law that included a modest increase in the gas tax was approved, but the revenue provided was less than the governor sought and further reduced when the Legislature repealed a tax on computer software services. Still, Massachusetts appears on track to move forward with several key projects, including expansion of commuter rail to the South Coast region and a renovation of Boston’s South Station.
