Last night, governor-elect Deval Patrick paid a visit to Springfield’s Basketball Hall of Fame to sit in on a combined workforce development, technology, and economic development transition working group (PDF) meeting, part of a series to invite the public’s input that apparently ended yesterday. Reports are due to the governor-elect tomorrow. In the photo above, Patrick speaks to the audience briefly before taking leave to some other meeting, as he said, "around the corner." The combined working group members are at the blue table behind him.
Upon walking into the spacious Center Court room, I was asked if I wanted to have a turn to speak. "No, thanks," I replied, and the person at the desk said, "Are you sure?" with a friendly little smile. She held up a white piece of paper, included in the packets at the table, where I could jot down my vital information, circle which working group my idea was for, and on several lines taking up half the page, write down my idea. Such papers, or requests to speak, were selected at seemingly random order by the chair of the evening, workforce development working group member and economist Paul Harrington. Speakers were provided with a microphone and the floor for what seemed like extraordinary lengths of time in most cases.
I’m all for transparency, democracy and community meetings, but I was struck by how dull it was to listen to one individual after another recite his or her idea in a dry, robotic tone as each person read from a prepared document. The best people to hear, by far, were those who dared to lift their eyes off the scripted page and simply look at the folks at the blue tables. (Some had no script at all, like Springfield’s Mayor Charles Ryan; MassLive.com has audio of his brief words, among others.)
By the same token, the cumulative voice of so many people across the state, asking for help with this or that project, initiative or crisis, has conveyed a singular message, reiterated last night, which is that a large number of agencies and entities have been starving for cash, structure, accountability and oversight, leaving them feeling profoundly neglected by the state government.
I noted that many people echoed each other’s ideas, but did not refer to that fact as they spoke, missing a chance simply to point out the building collective interest. The sheer act of being invited to a meeting to speak of the level of need understandably reduces some to a kind of emotional jelly: we no longer remember, if we ever knew, how to communicate with government. Thus, the scripts, and maybe a few missed sparks of connection, but overall the necessary information was conveyed. And redundancy has its merits.
The working groups seemed attentive and poised to listen. When they paused their listening to ask pointed questions of a speaker, such questions were highly tuned-in and focused.
Kristen Beam over at the Fray blog has a summary of some of the speakers and their points.
The working groups provided attendees with their "guiding principles."
Principles guiding the Technology Working Group:
? Allowing for greater transparency in government
? A plan to implement statewide Wi-Fi
? Utilizing technology to rebuild communities
Principles guiding the Workforce Development Working Group:
? Workforce Development programs will be more attuned to the demand-side needs of employers
? Help reduce waiting lists for ESL and ABE programs, and integrate the operation of these programs more closely with community colleges and workforce development programs
? Ensure that Workforce Development programs are responsive to existing skill mismatches in the state by better preparing participants for jobs in current and projected shortage occupations
? Work to make Workforce Development agencies better coordinated at the local level to streamline services to those in need
? Improve Industrial Relations and strengthen wage and hour law enforcements in hiring practices
? Improve our information base on the outcomes and impacts of existing workforce development programs to guide future funding programs
Principles guiding the Economic Development Working Group:
? Promoting an innovation economy
? Retaining core businesses
? Streamlining the permitting and approval processes
? Investing in our infrastructure
? Increasing access to capital through public and private partnerships
? Better selling Massachusetts
Patrick’s administration also offers ways to "plug in," as they put it. You can submit your own written comments either via the transition Web site or via mail (Attention: Rafi Goldberg, Patrick-Murray Transition Team, 56 Roland Street, Suite 100D, Boston, MA 02129).
