Transcript of Governor-elect Patrick's press conference
Deval Patrick: Good morning everyone. Well we are feeling humbled and excited about the outcome of yesterday's election. We thank the voters, we thank the people of Massachusetts who checked in, who answered our call to see themselves as active citizens and to participate and for giving us such a strong showing at the polls and such a mandate going forward. And we are looking forward. I'm looking forward to working closely with my new partner, the lieutenant governor-elect, I had a very productive conversation with the governor this morning where he assured us a smooth transition and our attention, Tim's and mine, will turn to that transition now. We'll have some announcements about that early next week, not this week, but we are trying to savor the moment and also focus our attention on the hard work ahead of preparing to governor and then doing it as productively and positively as we did this campaign. I'm very glad that you're all here and I'm going to turn the podium over to the lieutenant governor-elect.
Timothy Murray: Likewise I want to take the opportunity to thank those voters and literally the thousands of volunteers who worked so hard on behalf of the Patrick-Murray campaign. We know that the hard work continues and we've begun that process of thinking about transition and putting together the machinations involved with that and so it begins today and I'm just excited to be working shoulder to shoulder with Deval Patrick.
Q: Mr. Patrick tomorrow as you know the legislature is due to take up the gay marriage amendment. Are you going to make any phone calls on that? Are you going to weigh in on that? Do you have a statement to legislators about that?
Patrick: Well you know I've said all along that first of all I think the JNC got it right. I think all they did was affirm the principle that people come before their government as equals and there is so much other work to do I realize it's up to the legislature but frankly I wish we'd get on to that other work that needs to be done, the concerns that people have about how to get and keep a good job, educate their families,and health care.
Q: Are you going to make your position known to the legislators actively? Even though you've not taken office yet are you going to get involved with this?
Patrick: I have made my position known just in this way throughout the campaign and again just now.
Q: What do you see as your options in closing that? (budget gap on Beacon Hill)
Patrick: Well you know I had some conversation with the current governor about that because this is a budget that of course for which he has responsibility today and he has some strategies. I'm going to look at those strategies and others, I'm going to look at those strategies and others. I'm going to leave it at that for now.
Q: What role do you see for Tim Murray. I noticed that he spoke already, not even a couple minutes into your press conference, what role do you see for him? Tim can respond to that as well.
Patrick: Well you want him to go first or me? Well first of all I think I'd be crazy not to use the talent and the experience of Tim Murray to help me govern and to do so actively. We're working out what collection of specific responsibilities ought to be assigned primarily to the lieutenant governor but I see a real partnership here and I think Tim does as well. Tim do you want to add?
Murray: Thank you. You know this campaign since September 20 we've been working hand and glove and our campaign teams have meshed very well. At the end of the day Deval Patrick is the governor and I hope based upon my experience as mayor of the second largest city, being involved in a range of decisions and policy-making whether it be public safety, economic development or public education, that we can add value and substance to the decision making process that the governor's going to make and if the way we govern is anything like the way we campaigned it's going to be a productive, positive relationship.
Q: I was wondering if I could ask you about the slogan, the ubiquitous slogan 'Together we can." Now that you're governor- elect it's always seemed to me like a incomplete sentence. Complete the sentence.
Patrick: Ha, ha. Well I can, yes I can complete the sentence. Together we can revive the economy, together we can assure consistent excellence in the public schools, together we can deliver on the promise of affordable, patient-centered health care. Those are the issues that we campaigned on, those are the issues that are on the minds of most people in the Commonwealth and those are the issues where I think we have to concentrate our time and attention. Now, the fact of the matter is that they're connected to each other and to a range of other issues as well, transportation and housing issues, public safety issues, I mean the one question that I get and have gotten in the course of the campaign that I've hated the most is 'what's the first thing you're going to do?' Because in fact we have to perform brilliantly on multiple fronts simultaneously if we're actually going to move Massachusetts forward.
Q:What was the first thing Diane said to you this morning when you guys woke up?
Patrick: Ha, ha. Is it time to get up already? I think that's what she said.
Q: You know the last Democratic governor famously made a lead pipe guarantee that our taxes wouldn't go up. Can you make the same promise?
Patrick: I have said all along I have no plan to raise taxes. I think we have the resources today to do what we need to do and if we, and part of what we need to do is stimulate economic growth and as we grow the economy we'll have the resources to do what we want to do.
Q: The national headline today is Massachusetts elects its first black governor, only the second nationwide. You didn't want to talk about it too much yesterday, can you talk about what that means to you personally and what that means to the state?
Patrick: Well you know it's a profound thing to be witness to and a central part of this historical moment and I think if people around the country are looking at Massachusetts and thinking about Massachusetts differently than they have in the past then good for us. And we ought to use that and all kinds of other ways in which this election marks a milestone for change in Massachusetts to leverage ourselves in terms of attracting talent and retaining talent, in terms of attracting economic investment, business investment, in terms of how it is we collectively and together move ourselves forward.
Q: Seems like there's a lot of concern about it in the legislature... ? (removing tolls)
Patrick: Well I'm worried about it, you're right, and I have expressed that publicly. You know I have, listen, if we can do this we ought to do it. I think the question is whether we can do it prudently and I think a lot of that homework hasn't been done yet by the Turnpike Authority. So I want to wait to see the results of that homework before I make a final judgement, but yeah, I'm worried about it.
Q: ...is this something that would embarrass you if you decided to call it off?
Patrick: Listen, I don't want to imply ill motives, but I think anybody would want to remove the tolls on the Pike if we could, but as I said during the campaign and I still believe it. You know, roads don't plow themselves, they don't repair themselves, there are issues about how we pay for the retrofit of the off-ramps if we're taking the tolls off and don't have that mechanism to moderate the flow of traffic, and I think those and other issues are part of the homework that the Turnpike Authority is doing today, certainly ought to be doing today and until I see the results of that work I'm not prepared to support this.
Q: inaudible.
Patrick: Well everybody would rather have toll-free roads. I mean that's a natural, particularly commuters who are coming in from the metro west communities into Boston. I get that, anybody would, but all I'm saying is we ought to be realistic and practical about it and I'm not persuaded yet, as I said, that the Turnpike Authority has done the homework to persuade me anyway that this is realistic and practical.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: Well some people do think that. I think that the interesting thing about the gas tax of course is that as we move, and we must, to more efficient cars and trucks, the revenue from the gas tax naturally would go down. The Safety and Finance Commission has been looking at that inner balance as you probably know Scott and I think they've come to the conclusion, or at least preliminary, that we can't afford to take the tolls down right now and indeed that there may be user fees in the future that are the way to pay for infrastructure investment and upkeep, but again I've got to look at all that.
Q:
Patrick: Well, I'm not sure that they are ready to set it in motion. What I understand is that they are ready to do the homework and as I said there's nothing wrong with gathering the data. We ought to make fact-based, evidence-based decisions and I am trusting and counting on the governor to do that while he remains governor. I will look at that evidence and those facts when that information is available and as I say, it doesn't lend itself to me as a common sense solution. It's attractive for lots of political reasons but as a common sense solution I don't see it. I want to see that case made before I support taking down those tolls and I certainly hope that if any decision comes due before we take the oath of office that those are decisions based on facts and not just on politics.
Q: Do you support the T fare increase?
Patrick: No, I think that's a mistake. I've said so before. I think that's, this couldn't come at a worse time, when ridership is low and falling, when the investment in the quality of service has been curtailed, and it's just when we ought to be encouraging people out of their cars and onto public transportation so I think that's a mistake. Now, that's also connected to the broader fiscal issues at the T, and particularly the debt burden the T has and that's another big challenge that's waiting for us when we take office.
Q: How much consideration have you given to the faces of your cabinet and have you thought about Grace Ross?
Patrick: You are so mischievous. The fact is that I have been as restrained as possible in anticipating the composition of the cabinet before winning. One was we didn't want to jinx it and the other is that there was just a whole lot of other work to do to get to this point. Now we will turn all of our attention, or most of it, to transition at this point. I can tell you that I'm looking for the best ideas and best people wherever they come from. We don't have a litmus test, I suspect that there will be people from both parties in the cabinet and in the administration.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: That is certainly a direction that I want to head into. I'm going to wait for our first budget to talk about our first budget.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: I always see my as yet unformed relationships as constructive relationships because that's the attitude I go into them with and I'm looking to build a partnership with the legislature. Now, we're not going to agree on everything. We're all, the senate president, the speaker and I, are all strong personalities, we have our own views about things, we're not going to agree on everything. But I don't come to this looking to pick a fight. I come to this looking to find common ground where we can, and where we disagree at least to do so without being disagreeable.
Q: inaudible.
Patrick: You mean that the Republican party's on life support? That part of it? I'm not really thinking about that. You know what Allison, you know this better than I do, you spend more time up there than I have. We have Democrats in Massachusetts who'd be Republicans anywhere else. We have a range of political philosophies. We have conservative, liberal, and moderate Democrats. We don't have the kind of party discipline and coherence if you will that is implied in that whole argument about balance. I suspect that there are going to be different coalitions on different issues, and that the legislature and the executive branch will interact with each other frankly the way citizens do, which is on the basis of the issue and not just on party.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: Well I want to work out some of that Glen with the transition committee, which has yet to be formed, but I think the first thing is to compose that transition committee to compose working groups around subject matter under that transition committee to staff it up. I expect we'll be able to do that in the next couple days and have some announcements as I said early next week. I suspect that we'll make cabinet announcements as we're ready to and not just all in one big block at the end but as I say, I'll take the council of the committee, we will take the council of the committee on issues like that. We have got to begin to build toward the legislative agenda and the budget in the course of the transition because as you know the timing after inauguration is not very long and you get a little extra time, if I understand it correctly, in your first budget, with your first budget as a new governor but not a lot of extra time and there's an awful lot of work to do.
Q: inaudible.
Patrick: Well frankly what I think we ought to do and will do is appoint a special inspector general whose job and authority is to pursue all accountability -- contractors and public officials if that need be -- for both the financial and structural integrity of this project. We have got to regain the public's confidence and I think someone ,and a team of someone's, who have no political or financial or personal relationships with either the contractors or the folks up on Beacon Hill is in all of our interests.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: Correct. It was a very cordial conversation, I don't remember exactly when it came, sometime before nine o'clock and she called and she congratulated us on a strong campaign and as she described it a mandate, and pledged her support in a smooth transition and I told her I appreciate that very much and thanked her for her service. She told me when she planned to go on television to give her own concession remarks so we could plan around that, she was great.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: I'm looking forward to it, only looking forward.
Q: inaudible
Patrick: Well I think what they will see, I certainly hope what the people will see is some new faces, some new names, some new ideas, some folks who are maybe not today at the leadership level but just below, waiting as one of my mentors used to say to be discovered. I hope you see a real reflection of the diversity of Massachusetts in every way, racially, ethnically, and geographically and in terms of background and perspective. And I think you will see on our team in various places people who don't agree with me and Tim because certainly in my own experience that has sharpened my own thinking and improved my judgement. Let me just say a word or two more on this though, we've built this extraordinary grass roots organization and I mean to keep that alive and how we do that, whether that's through the party, whether through some other mechanism, we are still trying to work out and I am still trying to think through but I have said all along, I didn't want to build a grassroots organization just to get elected. It's also a way of governing and keeping people checked in and I do mean to give that some attention over the next few weeks as well.
Q: inaudible.
Patrick: You know I'm tempted to say I think I may be in town.. Look, I don't believe that making an announcement is enough. I think results are enough, I think lasting change is enough. I think for example, I mean we talked about taking the tolls down. What was announced made it sound as if it was imminent that the tolls are going to come down, in fact what was announced was that the Turnpike Authority was going to study the question. I'd rather come to the public when we've studied it and have an answer, those are some stylistic differences in answer to you question. I also see that you will see other faces and hear other voices in the administration than mine. In other words I want you to see the leadership that we appoint and that they speak for the government and they act for the government, that it always doesn't come from the governor.
Q: inaudible.
Patrick: I'll think about that. I'm sure, listen, you're going to call them anyway the question is whether they take the call.
Murray: Well, prior to last night that was a hypothetical. You know as we begin the process of transitioning state government over the next couple weeks I'm going to give some serious thought in terms of how the transition in Worcester will take place and have a statement on that at the end of the month but there's a lot of work ahead of us. There's serious work and important work, I just need to think that through over the next couple of weeks.
Q: inaudible
Murray: There's a lot of work ahead of us here that Deval and you all have referred to, my sense is that's where the focus begins but this over the next couple of weeks we're going to figure out how and when that transition and ending will take place but my sense is in talking to Deval in the last few hours and even the last week or so, there's going to be a lot of work ahead and that's where my focus can and should be.
Q: inaudible
Murray: No, not likely. But I need to figure out when that will come to an end and time that appropriately so that I can conclude the work in Worcester that is important but also make sure we're focused on what we have ahead of us coming January and days and weeks right now.
Q: inaudible
Murray: I'll have a statement on that in the next couple weeks on that but I think it's clear we have a lot of work ahead and what I need to figure out is how and when to make that transition and I haven't quite done that yet.
Patrick: Thank you.
