Everyone on Beacon Hill is wondering what’s going on with Gov. Deval Patrick. Is he bored with state politics? Is he headed back to the private sector? Is he laying plans for some future political run?
Patrick himself has been fairly clear about his plans to get a job and stay out of national politics until at least 2020. But every so often he does something — saying, for example, that Hillary Clinton’s “inevitability” could turn off the average voter — that makes people think he may have other plans.
Scot Lehigh , in his Globe column, offers up some tantalizing clues about Patrick’s psyche, but in the end concludes that the man still has no concrete plan.
The clues come from Patrick’s Together PAC, which is headed by Patrick pal and Democratic operative John Walsh . The PAC is making calls and sending out emails asking supporters to help Patrick cement his legacy. Judy Meredith , a veteran lobbyist for liberal causes on Beacon Hill, was one of the supporters the PAC approached. Discouraged by Patrick’s lack of engagement on Beacon Hill, she said no to the request, and turned the information over to Lehigh.
“One of our big projects is to get the message out there about what the governor has accomplished over the last eight years, and so one of the things we’re doing is asking our supporters if they might be interested in writing an op-ed or a letter to the editor reflecting on the governor’s legacy,” one of the PAC’s emails states. It goes on to list Patrick accomplishments in health care coverage, student achievement, veterans services, and renewable energy.
Walsh told Lehigh that the effort is not connected with a run for national office, and Lehigh believes him, largely because he thinks a run is unlikely given the many things that have gone wrong (Department of Children and Families, health care exchange) for Patrick during his second term. Lehigh chalks the PAC effort up to an “odd vanity project,” which, again, leaves everyone wondering what’s doing with Deval.
–BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
The Patrick administration unveils a $100 million four-year plan to help jumpstart the state’s struggling Gateway Cities.
A state board rules that William Lantigua‘s pension bid runs afoul of a prohibition on double-dipping.
A state probate court official sends out a fundraising solicitation for House Speaker Robert DeLeo from his state email account — an apparent violation of state campaign finance laws.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Patrick Reynolds , North Attleboro’s newest selectman, who beat out a three-decade incumbent, talks with Greater Boston about his upcoming high school graduation and the balancing act of college and town governance.
John Pace , a former city comptroller in Lynn, is awarded nearly $1 million by a jury in a whistleblower suit against the municipality. The award could end up be trebled, the Item reports.
The state’s Civil Service Commission has upheld the firing of a Middleboro police officer for falsifying records and witness tampering.
A Boston fiscal watchdog says events promoters are paying bargain-basement rates to rent City Hall Plaza.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is in no hurry to replace the acting head of the city’s redevelopment agency. Boston magazine breaks down Walsh’s effort to rebuild Boston’s development bureaucracy.
CASINOS
KG Urban Enterprises , the developer that sued the state over the tribal set aside in the casino law and has been trying for five years to build a gambling resort on the New Bedford waterfront, could team up with Foxwoods, which is reportedly looking to refocus its efforts away from Fall River.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission preaches consensus, vowing there will be no tie votes on the Greater Boston casino license, CommonWealth reports. The western Massachusetts casino license could be awarded in June, the Associated Press reports.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
The build-up is in full swing, writes the Globe‘s Matt Viser, for the June 10 release of Hillary Clinton‘s memoir.
Slate spotlights the Bush-appointed federal judge who brought same-sex marriage to Pennsylvania.
Former political frenemies Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio have formed a political tag team.
ELECTIONS
State rep candidates in Lawrence file ethics disclosures. The forms show William Lantigua with few assets and no job after he was ousted for mayor last year and incumbent Rep. Marcos Devers with several properties, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
State troopers assigned to Attorney General Martha Coakley have been eyed twice parking in tow zones reserved for the Boston Fire Department while she attends campaign fundraisers, but State Police officials say they have no problem with it.
EDUCATION
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signs into law legislation requiring preschool for every child, Governing reports.
In his commencement address to Harvard graduates, Michael Bloomberg delivers an impassioned call for tolerance and reverence for the free exchange of ideas that should be the hallmark of universities and free societies.
A Marblehead woman, fired from the state’s Jamaica Plain drug lab for lacking a required chemistry degree, sues Merrimack College for failing to award the degree she says she is due, the Salem News reports.
Kevin Cullen lauds the remarkable change at Revere High School that won it national recognition.
The operator a Dorchester day care center where a 2-year-old died this week after wandering off and then falling from the fourth floor roof has relinquished her license as word of previous citations against the center emerge.
A quality, long overdue rant on the overuse and misuse of the “Dr.” honorific.
HEALTH CARE
The incidence of measles, which was considered eliminated in the United States in 2000, has hit a 20-year high during the first five months of 2014.
More trouble for Arbour-HRI, the Brookline psychiatric hospital that faced sanctions previously over the quality of its patient care.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Groton residents gather to learn more about a new natural gas pipeline proposed to run through their community. The consensus at the meeting: the pipeline would be a disaster, the Sun reports.
Massachusetts joins seven other states in announcing a plan to put 3.3 million zero-emissions vehicles on the road by 2025, the Associated Press reports.
It’s National Hurricane Preparedness week, but because of their experiences with winter storm, Cape officials they fear that residents, particularly the elderly, aren’t ready.
New York City pro-ferret activists are rejoicing! They may soon be able to legally own a ferret. Whales, however, will continue to be banned as pets in the city.
The Wall Street Journal previews the legal fight over the EPA’s imminent regulation of emissions at existing power plants — a fight that will rest on little legal precedent.
The New York Times spotlights cap-and-trade efforts in California and the northeast.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Two inmates sentenced to life in prison in connection with murders committed when they were 17 make pleas for parole.
Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford contacted one of the people interviewing his alleged girlfriend for a job as a probation officer and urged him to consider her for the post, CommonWealth reports.
Former state senator Jack Hart sails through his second day on the stand in the trial of former Probation commissioner John O’Brien, CommonWealth reports.
The welding company linked to the Back Bay fire that left two firefighters dead has been cited before for operating without a permit, CommonWealth reports.
MEDIA
Emily Rooney will step away as host of Greater Boston in January, though she will continue to act as a “special correspondent” for WGBH and stay on as host of Beat the Press on Fridays.
New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet speaks out about the firing of Jill Abramson.
An Atlantic column argues against publishing the names of mass murderers.