Candidate for Lieutenant Governor Michael Lake spoke with The Somerville Times, sharing his thoughts on what it means to step in and serve the people of Massachusetts in this position. — Photo by Jeremy van der heiden

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden

This is the first installment of a two-part series following our interview with Lieutenant Governor Candidate Mike Lake.

In an interview with The Somerville Times, Mike Lake, who is running on the democratic ballot for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, explained some of the ways in which he believes this office should be handled. As a note, the state has been without a lieutenant governor for more than a year, as the position was vacated when Tim Murray resigned in June of 2013.

Mr. Lake hails from Melrose, was raised by a single-mother and affirmed that he was truly supported by his community from the time he was young. He has worked with former Governor Michael Dukakis, and was appointed to work in the White House under President Bill Clinton as the Special Assistant for White House Operations.

He has worked with the United Way to try to put an end to homelessness in Massachusetts and more.

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The Somerville Times: People are asking whether the state needs a lieutenant governor. Why is this position important?

Michael Lake: I gave one half of that answer which is the real tangible difference the lieutenant governor can make in the lives of citizens, but there’s also, it’s like not having health insurance. The lieutenant governor’s is essentially an insurance policy to maintain the vision, the direction and the momentum of moving Massachusetts forward.

If something were to happen to the governor, or if the governor decided to step down, you don’t have that continuity of government. One of the things that I was very fortunate to experience when I was at the White House was to be one of a handful of people alive today that has gone through a complete, full presidential transition.

I can tell you, first of all I’m the only candidate that has any experience with the continuity of government as a result, but it is critically important – nobody wants to see the chaos or challenges that can result if you don’t have that contingency plan, that transition of power in place.

TST: You want to provide jobs that pay a livable wage. How do you view the governor’s office and lt. governor seat place in creating jobs?

ML: Everybody talks about job creation because we have so many unemployed still in Massachusetts, and that’s what spurs our economy. First and foremost, there are two major opportunities that I see: No. 1 is Massachusetts being fully competitive on the global scene. We are operating in the global economy, and I think everyone would agree to that.

But the fact of the matter is Massachusetts is not fully competing in that global arena – we don’t have someone who is representing us on a consistent basis, selling all of the assets that Massachusetts has to offer. Our biggest, most significant asset – our greatest natural resource – is our talent. It’s broader and deeper than almost any other place on the planet and we should be using it to attract businesses.

The flexibility created by the Lt. Governor’s Office allows the office to meet the needs of the times this international view is something we cannot ignore.

The other thing is small businesses. Government working with the private sector and using Massachusetts’ resources, our investment funds, to support the increase in access to capital that people need if they’re going to start a small business. It means building partnerships with universities, and government just being a facilitator, so that we are leveraging all of these opportunities.

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Mr. Lake went on to affirm that there are plenty of roles for the government to fill, but that it does not need to be covering all matters. We then began to discuss the seeming inequality that has hindered growth in many cities and towns across the state, and what he believes needs to be done to eradicate this issue.

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TST: From an education standpoint, what does the government need to do to ensure that opportunities are consistent across the board?

ML: First of all, I have summarized my position or platform as the Massachusetts Promise, which is the promise of economic empowerment and social justice through high quality education and communities that are both safe to live and work in, and jobs that pay a livable wage. In terms of the education piece, I feel as though education is the foundation on which everything else is built.

To me that means creating an education pipeline that stretches from universal Pre-K. We should have universal pre-school education, and it should stretch, certainly through K-12 system, but also our vocational school, universities, and it should stretch all the way to retirement. We can’t just end our education at some point.

There are people who have 30 years experience and, for reasons totally unrelated to the individual, they have lost their job. They might be lacking a particular skill set. That person shouldn’t be under employed as they are today, there should be opportunities to train them in those few skills that they are lacking.

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Mr. Lake stated that strengthening the education system in this way could help to better leverage the talents and skills that currently underemployed individuals have. In many ways, Mr. Lake believes that collaboration will be a key to improving these performances. He also pointed to his experiences with Leading Cities as they apply to these matters.

“As President and CEO of Leading Cities, an international organization that builds partnerships in cities around the world. I do believe strongly in bringing stakeholders together to look at, identify problems and develop solutions,” he stated.

The conversation then turned to the discussion of an impending skills gap that will compound the national unemployment rate significant, and some believe already has.

“In Massachusetts, we have 250,000 unemployed people and about 120,000 vacant jobs,” Mr. Lake pointed out. “We can cut our unemployment in half if they had the right skills.”

In the next segment of this interview, we will discuss public safety and several other matters as they relate to the Lt. Governor’s Office, as well as what Mr. Lake believes needs to be done to improve economic, social and political goings-on in the commonwealth.