Bottom Of The Barrel

Patrick gives back

According to the Boston Globe, Governor Deval Patrick spent more than $10,000 on damask drapes for his State House office as part of a $27,387 makeover that also included a new desk, settee, and other furnishings and selected the lease of the $46,000 Cadillac DTS because it was one of two cars the State Police said he could have. After a few days of public outcry and much of the wrong kind of publicity, Deval today announced he would pay for his own office remodeling and kick in $543 a month for his leased car. Since he is asking agency leaders to bridge a deficit of at least $1 billion, Deval stated he "cannot in good conscience ask the agencies to make those choices without being willing to make them myself". What happened to the grassroots movement and the promise of a new way of doing things on Beacon Hill?

His next PR nightmare in the making is his hiring of a $72,000 aide assigned to handle scheduling and interview requests for Patrick's wife, Diane, a lawyer at Ropes & Gray. Does the Governor's wife really need a state appointed aide to help with scheduling? No one is busier [work, school and socially] then my wife and if anyone needs help it's us. [Just kidding Honey] No governor's spouse has had a staff member assigned as an assistant since Michael S. Dukakis hired an aide for his wife, Kitty.

Deval has been in office for less than 2 months and has made several missteps already. I hope he has learned just how observant the citizens of the commonwealth are and he returns to his platform for change and a new way of running our state government. If not, he might just be looking for a new job [and a new lease] when election time rolls around again.

Labels: Government

posted by TheWino @ 9:34 AM