Governor Deval Patrick has hired more than three times as many minorities into managerial positions as his predecessor, Mitt Romney, did by this point in his first year in office.
Eighty-three, or about 19 percent, of the managers the Patrick administration hired in the first 10 months of 2007 were racial minorities, compared with 25, or 8 percent, of the managers Romney hired by October 2003, Patrick officials said.
Patrick made history a year ago when he was elected the state's first black governor. Many African-Americans and other minority groups hoped the governor would create equal opportunity and address the problems the state's minority communities face. Lily Mendez-Morgan, Patrick's senior director of appointments, said the administration has closely monitored its progress in making state government more diverse.
"The most basic goal is to . . . use the power of government to create opportunities for different communities that have been excluded," she said. "I think the governor is very conscious of the fact that we are bringing people in and basically launching the next generation of leaders."
Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Romney, said in an e-mail that Romney's Cabinet also included women and minorities, and that he was recognized for having more women in senior positions than any other governor in the nation.
"There were people of many different backgrounds in senior positions, and they were selected based on their skills and qualifications, not based on quotas," he said.
Patrick officials said they do not use quo tas.
Early in his administration, Romney rescinded the affirmative action policies that had been in place and replaced them with his own guidelines, provoking a public outcry that led him to appoint a special advisory council on the matter. When the council proposed more liberal changes than the governor wanted, Romney abandoned his effort, and his administration effectively observed the old guidelines, even though they had been repealed, Patrick officials said. Soon after he was elected, Patrick formally reinstated the original guidelines.
"I believe the Patrick administration has made tremendous strides," said Marvin Venay, executive director of the Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus. "We are looking forward to the continuing flow of bringing more minorities aboard and diversifying the entire administration."
Leonard Alkins, a former president of the Boston NAACP, said the numbers of minority hires are less important than whether the hires are qualified, and if the administration's policies will improve the lives of people of color.
"I want good, quality people who can make decisions and bring about change," he said.
The Patrick administration has also hired slightly more women into managerial positions than Romney did in the first 10 months of his first year - 221, or 52 percent, of the managers Patrick has hired so far this year are women, compared with 155, or 48 percent, for Romney in 2003.
Patrick officials said Romney, a Republican, made fewer hires during his first year in office because the governor's office did not change parties, as it did this year with the arrival of Patrick, a Democrat. The state was also in a fiscal crisis when Romney took office; Fehrnstrom said the new hires were offset by widespread layoffs.
Carol Hardy-Fanta, director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston's John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, praised Patrick for his hires, but noted they comprise only a small fraction of the several thousand managers in state government. It will take time, she said, for Patrick to make a real difference in the overall makeup of the state's workforce.
"They are going to need to maintain this somewhat assertive effort to make sure they increase those numbers," she said. "If they peter out, it won't affect the bottom line."
Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com.
