SALISBURY — The group of people who gathered on Salisbury Green to meet Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday got their money's worth from the state's two-term chief elected officer.
Patrick spent an hour and a half listening to questions, answering as many as he could and taking names, promising to get back to those who needed more help. He even offered to help people find jobs and to look into why one Amesbury woman was denied unemployment benefits after she lost her teaching job in Saugus.
"This is not about coming out and making another speech," Patrick told the crowd. "This is about coming out and listening."
Pam Payne traveled to Salisbury from Peabody. Out of work for 13 months, she wanted Patrick to get unemployment benefits extended.
"I don't think your solution is in extended benefits. It's in getting you back to work," Patrick told her. "Oh, you brought your resume. Very good."
Salisbury college students Ryan McAdams and Mike Astuccio, both of whom study political science in college, saw Patrick's visit as very special.
"We haven't had a town hall visit from a governor here in Salisbury before," Astuccio said. "This is our government in action. I think it's cool."
When McAdams had a chance, he asked a question close to the hearts of most in town. He wanted to know how the state could help with the redevelopment of Salisbury Beach Center.
Once considered one of the greatest resort destinations in the state, the beach center has seriously deteriorated over past decades, McAdams told Patrick. McAdams said great potential exists, adding redevelopment would benefit both state and private coffers.
Patrick told McAdams private business owners could apply for state grants and low-interest loans if they individually wanted to improve their plight. Later, Patrick said, there are other possible ways the state can help through public/private partnerships.
If developers move to redevelop the beach center in a united conceptual plan — as the Thompson Design Group has been trying to do for the past four years — there are state programs available through Mass Development and through infrastructure programs from the state Department of Housing and Economic Development that can come into play.
But, the governor said, such programs must be initiated by the private sector. When ready, the Thompson Group, or any other private developer, must approach the state and apply for such programs and funding.
Not everyone wanted something from the governor. Some offered him their expertise.
Salisbury sisters Grace Marie and Joyce Tomaselli volunteered to help inform residents about state programs that can keep the elderly at home and not in institutions. That would reduce the tens of thousands of dollars a year per individual the state pays for people to reside in nursing homes, they said.
West Newbury's Kristi Devine promised she would work full-time for the state for free to root out "public corruption." Devine told Patrick she was a victim of public corruption, which led to her being arrested a number of times by her hometown police and even exiled from the town by a judge's order, preventing her from entering West Newbury for a lengthy period of time. Devine said there are hundreds of others just like her, and she's willing to help fix the problem.
But one gentleman in the crowd truly took Patrick by surprise after he discussed James "Whitey" Bulger's alleged anti-school busing activities in Boston in the 1970s.
When the gentleman asked Patrick why the state didn't file a civil rights suit against Bulger for being a "white supremacist," Patrick was almost speechless, saying he really didn't know how to respond to such a question.
"That's why you come to things like this," Patrick told the crowd. "You never know what you're going to get."
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