As was reported by Scaling the Hill yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei has joined with GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker in announcing that he is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2010. Printed below is the text of the remarks Senator Tisei delivered at his formal announcement, which took place at the Americal Civic Center in his hometown of Wakefield:
Good morning. I would like to begin by thanking all of my family, friends, and supporters who took time out of their schedules on very short notice to be here this morning.
Looking out at the crowd, I am really humbled to see the faces of so many people who were here with me in this very spot back in 1984, when as a young and determined 21 year old, I announced my candidacy for state representative.
I came back here again in 1990, a bit older and wiser when our Senator retired and asked the people of this area to elect me as their new state Senator.
On both occasions, I was honored to have my friend and mentor, Wakefield native and Former Governor John Volpe by my side.
I will always remember that at both of the events – right before he introduced me – he pulled me aside and whispered very sternly in my ear – make sure that you keep your nose clean and always remember that you represent everyone.
Needless to say, his advice has always kept me grounded and has stuck with me over the years. It has guided me through good times and bad, and has basically been what my career in public service has been all about.
It’s been a great honor and privilege to represent this district, and I want to sincerely thank all of my constituents who elected me 13 times for all of the faith, trust and confidence they’ve shown in me over the years.
As some of you know, I represent a pretty diverse district that is really a microcosm of the entire state. I represent two cities and four distinctive towns. Like Massachusetts as a whole, it’s both urban and suburban, and filled with a lot of hardworking middle-class families. It’s a great place to live, to work and to raise a family.
As a legislator, I’ve prided myself on taking Governor Volpe’s advice and always worked hard to represent everyone. As you can imagine, I have spent a lot of time listening to people and hearing their concerns about high taxes and the high cost of living in our state.
On a more personal level, as a lot of you know, I own a small real estate business, and in that capacity, I’ve sat at the kitchen tables of a lot of people who have been hit hard by this recession and have lost their jobs and can no longer afford their homes.
I’ve sat with others who simply can’t afford the high cost of living here in Massachusetts, and have moved to other states. I’ve also sat with people who didn’t want to leave the state, but they had no choice because the companies they worked for transferred their jobs away because they could no longer compete here in Massachusetts.
As you know, if you drive a mile and a half down Main Street, you’ll come to Memorial Hall in Melrose. Three years ago, with a lot of soaring rhetoric and lofty promises, Governor Patrick chose that venue to deliver his State of the State Address. He pledged that night to take our state in a new direction.
Somewhere along the way, we seriously went off track, and now, as a state, we find ourselves in a terrible place today, and it’s not just because of the recession.
People understand that our state government has become dysfunctional and rudderless. We’re not paying attention to people’s problems, and we’re not taking the decisive action that’s called for at this critical moment in time.
People are apprehensive because everyone knows things aren’t getting better, they’re just getting worse every day.
Most people I talk to can’t imagine four more years of this lack of leadership and direction. They want a Governor who is going to take charge, set an agenda and work with people to get things done … and that’s why I’m standing here with Charlie Baker this morning announcing my candidacy for Lieutenant Governor.
I’ve know Charlie for more than 20 years, and I strongly believe with all my heart that he’s the very best hope for the future of the Commonwealth. He’s the right person at the right time to get us out of this mess and to put our state back on track.
Over the past several months, I have spent a great deal of time with Charlie as he has traveled around the state meeting with people, listening to the challenges that families face, and learning first-hand about the problems confronting our state.
It’s clear that Massachusetts needs serious change, which is why, as the Senate Minority Leader, I have been leading the charge on Beacon Hill to change the way state government operates.
Charlie and I share the same philosophy: We understand that the economy needs to be jump-started to get people back to work, that we need to change the “business as usual” attitude on Beacon Hill, and that we need to make Massachusetts more competitive and affordable.
I am inspired by Charlie and his vision for Massachusetts, and I pledge that I will do everything I can to see that he is elected the next governor of the Commonwealth. More importantly, I look forward to working hand in hand with him to help him govern this state so we can turn things around and get Massachusetts moving forward again.
I want to thank Charlie for giving me this opportunity, and again, I want to thank my constituents, who have stuck by me all these years.
In conclusion, I’ll make the same promise to the people of Massachusetts that I made to my constituents when I announced my previous candidacies in this great hall, and I don’t think Charlie will mind if I make these two promises from the both of us, and those are: First, we will truly represent everyone in this state, and secondly, but more importantly, we won’t let you down.
Thank you.
