Lt. gov. hopefuls feud over résumés
Defend credentials during TV debate
They waded through questions on zoning exemptions, slogged into policies about judicial reform, and earnestly staked out positions against homelessness. But the Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor perked up in the debate yesterday only when the subject of their résumés came up.
Andrea Silbert accused her opponents with inflating their credentials in their ads and campaign literature.
``I am the only one with experience as a chief executive," said Silbert , who was a cofounder of the Center for Women and Enterprise but has never held elected office.
Deborah Goldberg , former chairwoman for the Brookline Board of Selectmen, fired back, ``I was responsible for [an] almost $200 million budget, and I had 58,000 lives to worry about, particularly in a post-9/11 world. And I had to think about public safety every day. I had to think about our kids' education."
Tim Murray reiterated that he is the mayor of Worcester.
``It's about leadership, bringing people together, and solving problems," he said.
The race for the state's number two job, with little disagreement on issues, is all about credentials these days. Accusations have flown that some of the candidates are inflating claims.
The three candidates, none of whom have been aligned with the Democratic candidates for governor, are vying in what has been a low-key race so far for the Democratic nomination in the Sept. 19 primary.
The latest poll, which was taken before the candidates started running ads this week, indicated that few voters were even familiar with the candidates that and 8 out of 10 voters were undecided. Murray was leading with 11 percent of vote from the 369 probable Democratic primary voters. Goldberg was in second place with 6 percent, and Silbert was last with 5 percent, according to the poll by 7NEWS/Suffolk University.
Throughout yesterday's 30-minute debate, which was sponsored by CBS-4 and moderated by Jon Keller , Murray touted his status as mayor, adding that his is ``the second-largest city in Massachusetts."
But it turns out that in Worcester, the mayor is the at-large city councilor who receives the most votes and has the same powers as any other member of the City Council. The city is run by a full-time city manager who is considered the chief executive.
Meanwhile, Goldberg's critics have said she is taking too much credit for initiatives that were approved in Brookline during her tenure.
``The common underpinning is that there tends to be an exaggeration of her role," said Jim Conley , who runs a blog, onbrookline.com , which has been casting doubt on her claims of increasing the town's Fire Department force and its affordable-housing inventory.
In her two years as chairwoman of the selectmen, Goldberg oversaw the budget process and conducted meetings for the five-person board, which has the power to hire and fire department heads. But the town administrator, who makes six figures, runs most daily operations.
Conley has also pointed out that the firefighter in her ads touting that she's helped save jobs in that Brookline department, saying ``Only Deb could do that," is not a Brookline firefighter. It is Edward A. Kelly, president of the Boston Firefighters Union.
Goldberg and Murray both criticized Silbert as lacking municipal government experience .
``You very much need, and I know that Tim will agree with me, some experience in understanding municipal budgets," Goldberg said.
One substantive issue on which the candidates disagreed was whether the state's cap on the number of charter schools should be lifted. Murray said lifting the cap would hurt public schools, while Silbert contended that the innovative techniques used at charter schools should be fostered. Goldberg used her time to talk about her support for pilot schools. One of her aides said that, like Murray, she is against lifting the cap.
The debate will air on CBS-4 tomorrow morning
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 