Gov. Deval Patrick and Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray promised Tuesday to fashion strong relationships with Massachusetts cities and towns at the first meeting of the Local Government Advisory Commission (LGAC).
"Vibrant cities and towns nourish a high quality of life and strong sense of community. When they partner with state leadership, they become engines for economic growth and prosperity," Patrick said. "[Murray] and I are committed to ensuring we keep the lines of communication open with each of our local leaders to mend and rebuild relationships that are vital to improving Massachusetts."
Murray will attend the monthly meetings of the LGAC, which the governor's office said will serve as a "municipal cabinet" of officials from cities and towns across Massachusetts. Patrick will attend the meetings on a quarterly basis.
The lieutenant governor will act as the administration's point person for cities and towns and, when local officials run into difficulties with state agencies, will serve as an ombudsman to oversee the resolution of the conflict.
"Local officials can feel confident that their voices will be heard in our administration and I look forward to the conversations and successes we will share going forward," Murray said.
Last month, Patrick highlighted several plans for strengthening local communities, such as opening up the state health insurance program to municipal employees, supporting legislation to allow communities to levy local options taxes, and publishing municipal impact statements on all major legislation and executive actions, which the governor's office said helped "to better communicate the local impact of actions made at the state level."
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