Thursday, 4:30 PM
Patrick to help pay for Cadillac, office furnishings
By Globe Staff
Governor Deval Patrick, bowing to criticism after he leased a car that cost $6,500 more a year than the one used by his predecessor, announced this afternoon that he would do more than just reimburse the state for the additional expense.
Patrick said he would also pay the state $27,387 for new furnishings in the governor's office. That will be in addition to the $543 he promised to pay a month toward the $1,166 lease of his Cadillac DeVille DTS. Mitt Romney used a Ford Crown Victoria that cost the state $623 a month when he was governor.
"All weekend long, I have been struggling with the budget constraints we are facing in the Commonwealth," Patrick said in a statement issued after 5 p.m. "There are tough choices to make. I realize I cannot in good conscience ask the agencies to make those choices without being willing to make them myself."
Last week, Patrick defended his choice of the Cadillac, saying initially that he abandoned the more customary and less expensive Crown Victoria used by Romney because "they don't make it anymore."
The governor's aides acknowledged a few hours later that Patrick was mistaken. Crown Victorias are still being made, they said, but the car's side airbags interfered with special security equipment that needed to be installed.
The $46,000 Deville raised questions about Patrick's spending habits at a time when the state was facing a fiscal crunch. Last month, Patrick asked all of his agencies to find ways to cut 5 to 10 percent from their budgets.
The new governor has also been criticized for using a State Police helicopter twice during his first six weeks in office. Romney only used the helicopter once during his four-year term.
Other scrutiny has focused on Patrick's hiring of a $72,000-a-year aide to handle scheduling and interview requests for wife, Diane, a law partner at Ropes & Gray. The new aide, Amy Gorin of Wellesley, and her husband, Norm, led the governor's fund-raising committee.
