Democrat Driscoll, in the ultimate do-nothing job in the entire hackerama state, already has a litany of questionable achievements she’s amassed over the past four years.
Whether it was dressing up in a Dunkin’ Donuts jumpsuit, lecturing us all for opening our extra “suites” to illegal migrants, selling out her former municipal colleagues by shoving the MBTA Communities Act down their throats, posing for photos with lobbyists, playing a role in the Applegreen contract debacle or sneaking into Healey migrant hotels without warning into communities, the left Lieutenant Governor has quite a record to build on.
Not quite a co-governor as Paul Cellucci was under Bill Weld, Driscoll is more of a cheerful sidekick for Healey, whose only real job is to preside over the dysfunctional Governor’s Council and grant backdoor access to politically connected advisors.
Not surprising for the woman whose primary job as mayor of Salem for seventeen years was organizing fall Halloween festivities.
Now she is being groomed to become the next governor if Healey leaves or is voted out.
There were a lot of expectations for Driscoll from mayors and city officials across the state when she took over in 2023, as she was once one of them as mayor of Salem. Lieutenant governors have traditionally been liaisons with cities and towns as part of their duties, keeping them informed of what is happening within the state government.
“I am so grateful for the time I spent in local government,” Driscoll told municipal leaders just a few days after taking office. “I will always wear a hat as a local official. Once you are mayor, you are always mayor…I hope you use me as a resource.”
Driscoll promised that the government would work with local governments on housing development, economic investment and education.
But instead of being a partner, Driscoll’s administration has ignored the concerns of cities and towns and forced them, under threat of punishment, to accept the MBTA Communities Act, which mandates affordable multifamily housing near T stops.
The heavy-handed tactics and threats of withholding state funding did not sit well with local officials.
“They are on a singular mission at the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to destroy small-town America,” said Rep. Jeff Turco.
Instead of listening to the concerns, Driscoll joked about the conflict at a Boston Foundation event last November.
“The MBTA Communities Act, we certainly spend a lot of time talking about that,” Driscoll said. “It has been a source of inspiration and sometimes a source of frustration. But we know this requires communities to think more concretely about the type of housing they have.”
Driscoll said she was willing to spend an extra five minutes a day in traffic because of clogged roads created by more housing.
“That’s a trade-off I’m willing to live with,” said Driscoll, who himself gets a state police driver to drive around.
Driscoll, along with her boss, was responsible for the infamous ‘Healey hotels’, where they crammed migrants into under cover of darkness for the first two years of their tenure, then told towns and villages to put up with it.
Then Driscoll had the audacity to condescendingly tell Massachusetts residents to open their homes to the thousands of families from foreign lands flocking to the state for free room and board, schooling and health care.
“If you have an extra room or suite in your home, consider hosting a family,” Driscoll said.
Healey also put Driscoll at the center of the migrant crisis by having her speak to frustrated lawmakers at a secret State House meeting. So much for transparency.
Among the complaints were undocumented children who simply showed up at local schools without any warning from the state.
“The communication has been less than desirable from all aspects down to the municipal level,” said State Rep. Michael Moran. “That’s the frustration that many of our colleagues expressed, a number of them expressed, and the government took some responsibility for that.”
Driscoll, along with Healey, was also part of a mock award of a nearly $1 billion contract to Irish firm Applegreen to renovate state highway service areas.
Instead of investigating the botched contract, Driscoll and Healey dodged the questionable bidding process and defended it.
Driscoll should be asked directly whether she played a role in awarding Applegreen the lucrative contract, which has since been rescinded. Did she have any contact with members of the contract selection committee to influence the vote?
Early in her tenure, Driscoll humiliated herself by dressing up in an orange Dunkin’ Donuts jumpsuit with Healey as part of a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast skit. It was embarrassing.
“Seriously, how awesome is it to be a DunQueen,” Healey asked Driscoll as the two threw Munchkins to the crowd. “We get to run everything.”
“I mean, yeah, like the MBTA,” Driscoll replied.
Instead of the DunQueen, Driscoll is the Queen of Mandates, forcing cities and towns to do the bidding of the state.
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