Governor Patrick's Trivialities

Amidst a billion dollar state deficit, a flagging economy, a state hiring freeze and a raging debate about whether to raise tolls or jack up the gas tax (with the smart money on a compromise - "what the heck, let's do both"), Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has been focusing on the important things.

- Appointment of a senator to a long-dormant $175,000 job;

- Hiring of a heavy campaign contributor to the newly created post of director of real estate services; annual salary: $120,000. (Did I mention the state's hiring freeze?)

- Hefty raises for a couple of sheriffs.

Add to that his Turnpike Authority which has implemented his campaign promise to lay off toll takers by hiring two staffers at a nifty $100,000 per annum.

I said these items are important, didn't I? My mistake. They are not important.

A dismissive Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday belittled as “trivial” recent exposes detailing plum jobs and fat raises to the politically connected under his watch, saying the controversies won’t distract him from “meaningful” issues.

“One of the challenges in life is concentrating on the meaningful and letting the trivial take a back seat,” Patrick said in the Senate reading room, after a reporter asked him whether patronage-packed Beacon Hill still has credibility with the public.

“I sometimes feel like I’m in a profession now where that is completely upside-down,” he added.

Funny, we feel that way, too, Governor. It might have been better to have skipped the trivialities altogether.