Mass. residents weigh in on Baker’s crisis management as he gets ready to leave office
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The clock is ticking down on Gov. Charlie Baker’s term.
Baker will do his official walk out before the new Governor is inaugurated on Thursday.
Whenever there was a major crisis in Massachusetts, Baker was not far behind. Boston 25 spent time with residents on Baker’s final days to get their assessment on how he handled crisis.
Covid was clearly his biggest one.
“I think he did a wonderful job,” said a woman. “None of our government officials were prepared for the Covid or pandemic, a world crisis. Nobody was prepared for that so he did a wonderful job.”
Baker held daily news conferences as he and his staff managed the pandemic. The changing Covid safety protocols did not always sit well with everyone, but residents we heard from say they felt like he was managing the problem.
“It’s a tough job. I think he did pretty good. People are always going to complain. That’s how it goes,” said a man.
In 2018, the Merrimack Valley gas explosions were one of Baker’s first major crises. Baker quickly declared a State of Emergency and his office is credited with getting resources to the area.
“He helped families. Find new homes and stuff. They helped with gas payment plans and stuff,” said a Lawrence woman.
Another woman told us her sister benefited from the help.
“Telling people to go to a hotel and they were paying for it. I’m not sure if they were paying money or giving them food but they were providing a lot of things to family,” the woman said.
The MBTA also kept the governor busy while he was in office. Over the years, there were fires, derailments and of course the shutdown of the Orange line for a month.
“I think he did as well as he could,” said a T rider. “I think it was a good idea to shut it down and fix everything. I think we had to do it.”
Baker’s last full day in office is Wednesday. Governor-elect Maura Healey will be sworn in on Thursday.
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