BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick tried to answer his critics by appearing on conservative talk radio.
The Democrat on Thursday visited Howie Carr's talk show on WRKO-AM. The two clashed over how quickly the state can remove toll booths from the Massachusetts Turnpike -- a pet cause of Carr's.
Carr complained that a reorganization of the state's transportation bureaucracy, including the elimination of the Turnpike, was a "shell game" because the booths remain.
Patrick vigorously defended the move.
"It is absolutely not a shell game," said Patrick, his volume rising to meet Carr's. "The toll booths will come down when the bondholders say they can come down."
Carr also opened with a frequent question he asks on the air and in his column in the Boston Herald: "Where's my property tax cut?"
Patrick replied, "It's coming."
The governor noted he has tried many means to let cities and towns reduce their property tax burdens, including proposing to allow them to put their workers into the state insurance pool, letting them raise their meals and hotel taxes and proposing to give them a portion of the revenues from three casinos he proposed.
"The other tools we got; this one we didn't," he said, referring to the Legislature's rejection of his casino plan.
Each month, Patrick appears on WTKK-FM, with liberal talk show hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, but he has largely avoided conservative programming.
Carr is a frequent critic of Patrick.
The governor is seeking re-election this year and has been more aggressive in answering his critics. He also was trying to underscore his populist credentials Thursday. His insurance division rejected a series of small business health plan cost increases proposed by the state's major insurers.
