Beginning in 1997, I served as the director of Gov. Paul Cellucci’s office in western Massachusetts. Operating at a distant outpost of the administration in Springfield, I repeatedly benefitted from Paul Cellucci’s interest in the state’s western four counties. During the year and a half (prior to his election in 1998) that the media insisted on addressing Cellucci as “acting governor,” he visited western Massachusetts 24 times, an unprecedented number of visits for a sitting governor. Paul Cellucci, hailing from his native Hudson, knew well the perception among those in communities and regions west of Route 128 that Beacon Hill considered their interests and struggles rarely. I can recall one political strategist, noting the comparatively few votes to be had in western Massachusetts, saying there was little political need for statewide office holders to spend any time in western Massachusetts. Paul Cellucci would have none of that. He was engaged in the issues affecting that region and those in every Massachusetts region.
Massachusetts today is a better place because of Paul Cellucci. Gov. Weld often referred to him as his co-governor. If we are to consider their decade in the corner office together, the accomplishments of the Weld-Cellucci era are breathtaking. Encountering a fiscal crisis, a ruinous economy and an oppressive tax regime that frustrated business, they trimmed the size of government and cut taxes more than 35 times. Understanding that tax policy could incentivize job creation, they created the Economic Development Incentive Program that helped support business expansion projects in every corner of the state. They created the research and development tax credit, which has contributed to the growth of innovation industries in Massachusetts. They supported and embraced the landmark Education Reform Act of 1993, which raised performance of Massachusetts public schools to the highest in the nation and among the highest in the world when measured against other nations. As we consider the legacy of Mayor Tom Menino in his last term, we note that it was with the critical support of the Weld and Cellucci administrations that the convention center was built, Logan Airport expanded, and, yes I’ll say it, the Big Dig was pursued. Together, these three projects have allowed for a new Boston to emerge in the Seaport area and has led to a reverse migration of population and investment back into Boston.
‘A Good Man’
When we lost Paul Cellucci this past week, we lost a good man. I was always impressed by how modest and approachable he was. I enjoyed being with him on his visits west because of the impression he left with those he met. Here was a man who looked you in the eye, listened, and cared about what you said. His actions spoke loudly. I was never more proud of him than when he spoke as U.S. Ambassador to Canada before a crowd of tens of thousands in Ottawa at a memorial service in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Never known as a great public speaker, speaking without notes on that day, he expressed the feelings of our nation to an audience of our friends with an eloquence that could not have been matched.
After he left the corner office, I took to referring to him as the ultimate “pot-hole” governor. He fixed things, large and small. He had a fine sense for what government was supposed to do and what a governor could do. He was a “good government” Republican, striving to make the machine of government work better, without castigating government itself. He respected government because he knew, at its best, it was a government of the people and for the people.
It’s almost too obvious to write, in this era of partisan vitriol and political intransigence, that we need more people like Paul Cellucci in government. He had a common touch which was genuine, not manufactured. He was a humble man who approached great tasks in public office as one who knew that it was upon his efforts that others depended.
Peter Abair is director of economic development and global affairs at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio).
