Will lieutenant governor hopefuls follow Karyn Polito's lead on local relations?

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito often highlights the fact that her almost eight years in office has brought her to visit each and every one of Massachusetts' 351 cities and towns.

As the administration's liaison to municipalities, Polito, of Shrewsbury, has made these relationships a cornerstone of her time in office, from announcing local aid plans in her annual addresses to the Massachusetts Municipal Association to the give-and-take nature of the interactions she has with local officials when she presides over the Local Government Advisory Commission.

But not all of the Bay State's lieutenant governors have billed themselves as champions of local government.

Officially, the role entails chairing the Governor's Council, which handles judicial nominations, pardons and commutations, and stepping in if the governor resigns or can no longer perform their duties. Beyond these Constitutional requirements, occupants of the office are free to define and shape the post to their own experience and agenda.

Because of this flexibility, it has also at times been referred to as a "useless" or "do-nothing" job.

You'd never know it from the crowded field of candidates vying for the position this year, now whittled down to five hopefuls after two more, Sen. Adam Hinds and businessman Bret Bero failed to advance at the state Democratic convention in early June. Most of the remaining candidates told the News Service they plan to continue emphasizing relationships with local leaders if elected to the role, though one said she intends to be "a different kind of lieutenant governor."

Kim Driscoll, a Democrat now in her fifth term as Salem's mayor, is hopeful her on-the-ground experience as a municipal official will give her an edge in the race. Her decision to run was partly spurred by the realization that other candidates had never held local positions, she said.

"I think of municipal government and local government as the 'get stuff done' wing. There's no hiding in local government — you're making decisions for friends and neighbors and people you're going to see the very next day," Driscoll said. "That means that you're more accountable."

One of the greatest lessons she learned in Salem is the "power of convening" and the magic that can happen when local momentum meets state support. Driscoll has seen that impact in her own community, from the success of the city's rideshare program, the Salem Skipper, to its waterfront revitalization efforts and its shift toward natural gas and offshore wind.

"So many of the challenges we have at the state level we can't really fully address unless there's action at the local level, whether it's housing, transportation, infrastructure, early ed or the climate crisis," Driscoll said. "All of these things need and require local communities to be working in concert with state officials to achieve success."

As a mayor, Driscoll has had a close-up look at how Polito and the Baker administration handle municipal affairs and has come away impressed.

"We've had a really strong relationship with Charlie Baker as governor," Driscoll said in July 2018, when she declined to throw her support beyond Democrat Jay Gonzalez. "He's been a municipal official. Many of the folks in his Cabinet have been. I really value some of the work that we're doing with his team."

With a background in social work and public health, Rep. Tami Gouveia also plans to draw on her unique expertise in the race for the corner office. But if Driscoll would bring an approach similar to Polito's, Gouveia has other things in mind for the job. The Acton Democrat said one of the goals of her campaign is to better support residents who have historically been marginalized.

"I've seen, as a single mom how our state government, in many ways, is leaving hardworking families behind and I've seen it as a state representative as well," Gouveia said. "So I'm really just focused on being a different kind of lieutenant governor, pressing on the things that every person needs in our state in order to be able to thrive and make it in our commonwealth."

Her strategy for working with municipalities is to expand on the relationships she has developed as a state representative and listen carefully to the concerns municipal officials want her to bring to the administration.

"I think that's what our local leaders are really needing and asking for in the next lieutenant governor and in the next governor is to understand those daily, everyday struggles that their families are facing," Gouveia said, "and find ways to eliminate the bureaucratic red tape that makes it hard for our municipalities to access resources, that makes it hard for our families to access resources, and that makes it hard for our small businesses to access resources."

From the perspective of former state Rep. Leah Cole Allen, a Danvers Republican running alongside gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl, rising inflation is one of the most pressing issues facing municipalities and the state's growing fiscal year 2022 surplus should be used to help address the impact on local budgets.

"The state government should do the right thing and return some of this tax money to the taxpayers to offset some of these high costs of living so that the municipalities and towns don't have to keep raising their town and city taxes, and people can kind of have a little breathing room," Allen said.

If elected, Allen envisions herself spending most of her time outside of the State House connecting with residents and local leaders one-on-one. She wants to prioritize school funding, especially as districts contend with pandemic learning setbacks, and would also like to see religious exemptions for vaccination remain in place. Allen lost her position as a nurse during the pandemic after declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Medical freedom is the top priority that I would want to work on in the state, as well as families' rights when it comes to what their children are learning in school, and the policies like the masking policy if that was ever to be put back on the table," Allen said. "Parents deserve a say in what's being done with their kids in public schools."

Longmeadow Democrat Sen. Eric Lesser sees his connection to western Massachusetts and experience in both federal and state government as assets when it comes to serving communities outside of the Boston hub. Lesser previously chaired the Senate's Gateway Cities Caucus and has been endorsed by several municipal officials including Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena, Fitchburg Mayor Steve DiNatale and a smattering of city councilors from western Massachusetts, among others.

"We're a state that sometimes forgets about the outlying areas, the outlying regions, whether that's the South Coast or the Merrimack Valley or central Mass. or western Mass. or the cape," Lesser said. "So I think having that very intentional kind of regional vision is really important."

As lieutenant governor, Lesser would see his primary role as supporting the governor's agenda and working across disciplines to facilitate collaboration at different levels of government. Some of the issues he'd like to focus on include combating rising housing costs, addressing unfunded education mandates and supporting local infrastructure projects.

"There's a constant pressure on cities and towns right now around infrastructure, especially with costs going up and with supply chain challenges and inflation challenges," Lesser said. "We know that the Chapter 90 road formula, for example, is out of date and is shortchanging a lot of communities."

Former state Rep. Kate Campanale, a Republican from Spencer, spotlighted increasing local aid levels as a priority for her and her running mate, Chris Doughty. She stressed that the administration's approach to local aid should go further than just handing communities a check to consider all the different "puzzle pieces" and potential partnerships to leverage when addressing a given issue.

Like Allen, Campanale advocated for surplus funds to be funneled to cities and towns.

"We need to make sure those are going back to our municipalities who are talking and who are concerned right now about initiating a (proposition) two and a half override, and what that's going to do to our property taxes," Campanale said. "What is that going to do to families and seniors on fixed incomes?"

Campanale noted that she previously represented Worcester and Leicester, communities with vastly different needs. She said serving municipalities effectively as lieutenant governor will hinge on listening to and understanding their specific concerns rather than prescribing one-size-fits-all approaches from the State House.

"All issues are local issues. It's about making sure your local communities are prioritized," Campanale said. "Every community is different."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Will lieutenant governor hopefuls follow Karyn Polito's lead on local relations?