By Ben Hall
noteworthy
Suffolk has a long history of sending graduates to the Massachusetts State House, which sits just steps from campus. That’s why Governor Charlie Baker and Steve Kadish—the governor’s first chief of staff—reached out to Professor Sandy Matava in the Sawyer Business School’s Moakley Center for Public Management to ask if they could talk with faculty about their new book, Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done.
During an hourlong discussion in late August, Baker and Kadish offered intriguing glimpses of the inner workings of the Commonwealth’s executive branch on a host of issues.
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Photographs by Michael J. Clarke
| Fall 2022
On the shutdown of the Orange Line:
"It makes me crazy that the T is still the problem child today that it was when we took office,” Baker said, adding that much of the money spent on the T has been for essential equipment that nobody sees and that has no obvious political gain—including signals, railroad ties, and switch warmers.
On picking the right people for the right roles:
Baker said a strong secretary of administration and finance is essential. “If you get the budget stuff right, it makes everything easier.”
On the COVID command center they set up in the first days of the pandemic:
“Looking back now, it’s kind of amazing we didn’t really know if it was going to be necessary,” said the governor. “Clearly it was.”
The co-authors said their fundamental goal was to restore faith in government in a period marked by polarization and political gridlock. “We both believe that when government overpromises and underdelivers, it’s hard for democracy to hold itself together,” Baker said. “The book is supposed to be a statement about the positive work government can do.”
Top photo: Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and co-author Steve Kadish discussed their new book in a conversation moderated by Professor Richard Taylor. Bottom photo: Governor Baker with Sarah Ann and Catherine Hajjar, daughters of Institute for Public Service Professor Lauren Hajjar.