Tim Cahill: My Time With Mitt
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tim Cahill, GoLocal Worcester MINDSETTER ™
I was once invited to his house for a Christmas dinner party he held during his first year in office. There, in his own home, he was able to let his hair down (no pun intended) and be himself. The real takeaway from the evening for me was how delightful his wife Ann was. She was very warm and gracious and quite chatty. As in many long, successful, marriages they complimented each other. She was comfortable talking about people and even got into a little gossip concerning the Olympics, while he was more interested in discussing serious topics. I also found him that evening as someone who is very sure of himself and his opinions.
The nature of the Massachusetts constitution forced us to work together, Democrat and Republican, on issues relating to finance, debt and investments. In those areas I found the governor to be mostly straightforward and interested in sound fiscal solutions. He inherited a $3 billion deficit and an economy that had still not recovered from 9/11 and the meltdown of the technology industry. He spent most of his first year engaged in balancing the budget and trying to create an environment for economic growth. He stuck to his pledge not to raise taxes but was not afraid to raise revenues through fees and closing tax loopholes.
When it came to the state's debt he and his staff drew a line in the sand as to how much would be borrowed to meet needs as well as correcting past practices of loading up on debt off the state's balance sheet. His chief financial officer, Eric Kriss, suggested monthly meetings to discuss financial challenges. I thought this was a very civil way to develop consensus. And there was none of the typical, Beacon Hill, power-play tactics of "you come to my office" to discuss these issues. Instead we alternated offices each month.
One of the biggest issues facing the state during those first two years was an out of control school building assistance program being run by the Department of Education. We both knew it needed to be fixed and even though our solutions differed, the problem could not be solved without us both working on it. The Governor struck the first blow by cutting the budget for reimbursement to cities and towns. When that didn't stick he placed a moratorium on any new construction beyond what had been approved. That forced a reluctant legislature to act. Although we came up with the solution which I believe was a far better financial one than what they proposed, were it not for the moratorium, the legislature would never have approved any reform to the system.
And Governor Romney, to his credit, signed the legislation as passed and allowed me and the new agency to run it as we saw fit. I felt that he trusted those who he believed were playing it straight, regardless of political party, and got into political fights with those who weren't .
Mitt Romney has many detractors from his time as Governor of Massachusetts from both the left and the right. But for those of us from the center, he made many sound decisions during his first two years. It was when he decided to begin his run for the presidency during the second half of his first term that things turned. The social issues became more important than the fiscal issues. And the audience no longer included Boston to the Berkshires but was for those beyond the borders.
He spent more time out of the state than in it. Massachusetts became a national punching bag for Mitt. He once compared himself to being " a cattle-rancher in a state full of vegetarians" or something like that. Where we suffered the most was after RomneyCare was passed, the Governor spent no time here working to implement a law that has had such a big impact on our finances.
The irony of this presidential election cycle is that Mitt Romney has been pummeled for being a successful businessman who earned his money creating, buying and selling companies through Bain Capital. That's the Mitt Romney that this former democratic treasurer enjoyed working with the most. Not because it was fun or easy, but because it worked to put Massachusetts on sound financial footing coming out of what was then a pretty, ugly recession.
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