Lawyers Seek Input for Governor-elect
By Rachel L. Axelbank
The Jewish Advocate
Three prominent local attorneys are helping to ease Deval Patrick and Tim Murray into office, and are in doing so - they hope - helping to turn over a new leaf for Massachusetts.
Dick Glovsky, Dennis Kanin and Alan Solomont are among the 212 Bay State citizens volunteering their expertise for the Patrick/Murray Transition Committee, a force whose assemblage last month holds much promise for a brighter state future.
"The people of Massachusetts have seen a certain style of leadership over the last four terms," Solomont said. "We've just elected a governor who's projected a very different vision of government - one that is much more inclusive and that will try to address the real needs that real people have - and we really have a historic opportunity to implement that vision."
The Transition Committee is composed of 15 working groups, each dedicated to a single issue that will help shape the Patrick/Murray policy agenda, according to a written statement from the administration. And though such a program is - as governmental transitions go - rather unremarkable, this one has been set apart by the administration itself.
"Deval Patrick truly wants to have an open and accessible government," Glovsky said. "I've never been so enthused about an elected official before." Glovsky, whose role on the committee is in the Civil Engagement group, has worked previously on behalf of Congressman Ed Markey, Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, Senator Ted Kennedy and President Bill Clinton; from him, this statement carries clout.
As part of the information-gathering process, each of the working groups has been holding community meetings throughout the state in which the public has been invited to voice concerns and suggestions for the governor- and lieutenant governor-elect, Glovsky, Solomont and Kanin all said.
"We're basically there to listen and ask questions," Glovksy said. "His [Deval Patrick's] idea is to rebuild the sense of community that no longer exists in this country."
Kanin, who is part of the Housing group, said that the meetings have been "very informative - even for those of us who've been involved in this area for awhile." However, he added, "most of all, it's just been the intensity of feeling."
Glovsky said: "It's so amazing, how much they [the meeting attendees] care and how much they want to communicate. They're passionate about their views, but they're just as passionate about a system where people have a way to express their views."
The groups are supposed to have issued reports on their findings by this past Wednesday, Glovsky added.
"We have lots of work to do," said Solomont, who is working with the Higher Education group. "But it's a very hopeful time for the Commonwealth."
When queried on the matter, Solomont stated that Judaism has played a role in his choosing to contribute in this way.
"To me, being Jewish is about practicing tikkun olam and promoting social justice in the world. I've tried to apply to my political work what I've learned as a Jew and what I believe is central to Jewish teaching," he said. "The political perspective I have on the world is completely informed by my Jewish beliefs."
From the other direction, the reports issued by some of the groups - the Civil Engagement group, at least - have been informed on the whole by the objectives of the Jewish community. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston has submitted a couple of agenda items to the Civil Engagement group on behalf of all the Jewish federations and social service agencies in Massachusetts, according to Nancy Kaufman, executive director of the organization.
The JCRC suggested that the administration create an "Office for Innovative Solutions," whose sole purpose would be to "cut through the bureaucracy" and address the most pressing concerns, according to Kaufman.
The two items of utmost importance are services to immigrant and refugee populations and accommodating the elderly with naturally occurring retirement communities, according to a memo addressed from Kaufman to the Patrick/Murray Transition Office.
Regarding the organization's choice of these two issues, Kaufman emphasized that the focus was on not only what is important but also what their collectivity is equipped to discuss and make recommendations on. She said: "There are a lot of things we care about, but the question is what areas we have particular expertise in."
