Overview

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) began summarizing and publicizing the management and leadership failures of the Baker-Polito Administration during the 2018 gubernatorial election campaign. The Baker Dossier was the result of those efforts. (See below.)

The Baker-Polito Administration’s pattern of management and leadership failures has continued after the 2018 election and PDM has continued to document them. Our ongoing effort is called the Baker-Polito Watch and we are writing summaries on new topics along with blog posts on new and old topics, all of which have been added here on our website. (See below.)

New topics are the Baker-Polito Administration’s very deficient response to the COVID pandemic and the scandals that have engulfed its Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV). We have updated the summary of transportation issues, highlighting the failure to address the growing congestion on the highways and the continuing failures of public transit in greater Boston. We have also provided updates on the multiple scandals that have rocked the State Police.

These issues are emblematic of the serious management and leadership failures apparent across state government. Despite Governor Baker and his Administration’s selling of themselves as hands-on, down-in-the-details, excellent managers, there doesn’t appear to be any systemic attention to ensuring that the state is executing critical functions consistently and well. Furthermore, whenever failures become evident, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and their appointees typically claim they knew nothing about the problem.

Here are highlights from our on-going Baker-Polito Watch:

COVID Pandemic: The response has been too late and too little time after time. Many unnecessary deaths and greatly inflated numbers of COVID cases have been the result. Far too little testing has been available and important data has been lacking as well. A definitive plan for tightening and relaxing restrictions driven by clear metrics has been lacking. Therefore, it is impossible for residents to have clear expectations for schooling, child care, and operation of businesses. Other results have been unnecessary hardships for renters, small businesses, and children and parents. Mayors have stepped up and implemented significant restrictions to reduce the transmission of COVID due to the failure of the actions of the Baker-Polito Administration.
- The most recent blog posts are here.
- The initial COVID response article from July is here.
- Our letter to the Baker-Polito Administration calling for a broader, more inclusive planning process is here and the related press release is here.
Registry of Motor Vehicles: Grossly mismanaged, under-funded, and under-staffed, it has failed for years to process notices of out-of-state driving violations and has failed to send in-state driving violations to other states and to local police. Management failures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles have cost lives. (Read more here)
Transportation: Traffic congestion is growing and public transportation is failing in greater Boston. The Baker-Polito Administration’s response has lacked any sense of urgency and it continues to insist that no significant new revenue is needed to address transportation issues. It also insists that congestion pricing (i.e., smart tolling) on our highways is not a solution, despite support for it from transportation experts and its successful use elsewhere. Across the state, road and bridge maintenance is inadequate and mass transit performance is unacceptable. Although the Baker-Polito Administration has developed some grand plans to deal with various transportation issues, it has no plan for how to fund those changes. Overall, the Baker-Polito Administration has no serious plan for addressing our major transportation issues. (Read more here)
State Police Scandals: The scandals at the State Police include fraudulent overtime pay, destruction of internal records and other evidence for criminal cases, significant delays in investigating serious car accidents, and capturing license plate data by scanning traffic with unclear authorization and purposes. Furthermore, the Baker-Polito Administration has repeatedly failed to effectively implement promised reforms. (Read more here)

Previously documented management failures from the 2018 Baker Dossier include:

Press Release

Letter to the Baker-Polito Administration calling for an inclusive, broad-based coronavirus Reopening Advisory Commission

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) sent a letter to the Baker-Polito Administration calling for an inclusive, broad-based coronavirus Reopening Advisory Commission (attached). The Commission should include:

Experts in public health, who should play a leadership role
Representatives of workers, particularly those in essential, front-line jobs
Representatives of populations that have been most negatively affected by COVID-19
Representatives from advocacy groups for racial, economic, and social justice

The Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts letter also calls on the Baker-Polito Administration to:

Dramatically increase the state’s capacity for and implementation of testing, both for COVID-19 and for antibodies
Implement effective contact tracing
Continue to take steps on reopening in accordance with data on key indicators of the pandemic’s spread and impact
Make detailed data available to public health experts and the public on a frequent and transparent basis

PDM’s letter states that these actions are essential to ensure that all Massachusetts residents are as safe as possible and that the Commonwealth minimizes the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths as we reopen our society and economy.

PDM Leadership Team Member John Lippitt stated, “We are disappointed that the Baker-Polito Administration’s process for planning the reopening of our society and economy has left out important stakeholders, has failed to publicly share important data, and has not included sufficient testing to keep all Massachusetts residents as safe as possible. We hope that as we move forward the Administration will rectify these shortcomings of its reopening process.”

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts is a statewide network of grassroots activists who have been working together since 2003 to advance progressive policies and candidates for office at the state and local levels in order to achieve a more just, equitable, and sustainable commonwealth.