Candidate for Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Michael Lake.

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden

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

Lieutenant Governor hopeful Mike Lake recently stopped by The Somerville Times newsroom for an interview to explain his perspectives on the current state of affairs in Massachusetts. Mr. Lake has worn many hats in the past, including that of the Special Assistant for White House Operations during the Clinton Administration and chief executive officer of international organization Leading Cities.

In the first part of this interview, we discussed Mr. Lake’s opinions on economic matters, as well as inequality in the commonwealth and what needs to be done level the playing field among the population. In this second and final part, we will discuss the prison system, what separates Mr. Lake from his competitors in the election, the state’s infrastructure and more.

We start with the prison system and criminal justice.

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The Somerville Times: What are you opinions on increased public safety surveillance?

Mike Lake: For me, I talk a lot about the fact that we need to tackle problems at the root cause, and not just continue to invest in alleviating the symptoms or addressing the symptoms – we have to do that as well – but we will always have the symptoms if we don’t tackle the root cause. And, surveillance to me is just another way of tackling the symptom rather than addressing the real problem.

When you look at some of the more nonviolent crimes, a lot of it is stemming not from a desire for criminal activity, a lot of it is stemming from addiction, and we see this all over the commonwealth, Somerville included. Where nonviolent offenders with a drug addiction or substance abuse issue are being incarcerated in our county jails. More than half of our county jails are made up of people with an addiction.

They’re not getting the treatment they need and deserve, and what have we done for that individual? What we have done is we have branded them for life with a record that makes it very difficult for them to ever reach their full potential, which means they’re going to be a less productive member of society for the rest of their life than what they could have been. I mean, that doesn’t help anybody.

So, I’m much more in favor or tackling the challenges at the root, rather than – I mean for me, surveillance is a reactive measure, rather than a proactive measure.

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Mr. Lake then spoke to the growing epidemic of opiate addiction that has stricken the commonwealth in the past few years, as well as what he feels needs to be done. He pointed to the frequency of repeat offenders – 48 percent of individuals are back in prison within six months of being released from prison – and the ways to reduce this rate.

In many ways, he asserted that the real dilemma faced by the state is a lack of adequate rehabilitation services and drug courts, as well as preventative measures, to begin reducing the spread, cost and lasting impact of addiction.

He also highlighted the financial benefits or taking a supportive, rehabilitation-oriented approach to nonviolent drug crimes.

“We will spend $48,000 a year to incarcerate a nonviolent offender. We will spend $40,000 a year to house a homeless family. We only spend on average $13,000 to educate a child, specifically a third grader,” Lake explained. “I say third-grader because we use third grade reading achievement to project how many homeless shelters we’re going to need and how many prison beds we’re going to need in Massachusetts. That’s what I’m talking about investing in the root cause, let’s invest in education, not in incarceration.”

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TST: What separates you from the other candidates competing for lieutenant governor?

ML: I think the biggest thing is the relevant experience. When people are asking if we need a lieutenant governor, you need somebody that is going to go in there and transform this office so that question is no longer on the table, and I’m the only one with the relevant experience because I have worked with cities around the world.

To be the liaison between the cities and towns, there is nobody with the depth and breadth of experience I have. In terms of being that ambassador to the rest of the world so that Massachusetts is selling itself and we are not leaving those opportunities on the table and that we are bringing together the private sector and Massachusetts, that create a career path for people. Just to say we are going to create jobs is not enough, we want jobs that allow people to climb the economic ladder.

So, on that front, there is nobody with the international experience that I have. It’s also the policy work that I’ve done. I’m the only one who has worked in an institution of higher education working on public policies, I’ve worked at the city, state, national and international levels. When you start comparing the experience and the relevance of that experience, there is no comparison.

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After discussing a variety of other matters pertaining to the process of strengthening the commonwealth’s economic stature on the global scale, the interview then turned to the state’s infrastructure.

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TST: Do you have a vision or set of objectives when it comes to the commonwealth’s infrastructure?

ML: Well, first of all, just by way of a little background, my grandfather helped build the Eisenhower Interstate Highways. Infrastructure is something that I think runs through my blood. Building roads and bridges and public transportation systems. It’s not just about moving people or moving goods, it’s about creating economic mobility as well. It’s about giving people that opportunity to reach at that low-rung on the ladder and pull themselves up and climb that ladder. This is a fundamental challenge for government to address.

You mentioned the Big Dig. It’s no news. Charlie Baker, who designed the financing scheme of the big dig which deferred all of this maintenance on roads and bridges have put lives at risk because of the dangers that these roads and bridges create, and you compare that to what Governor Patrick did with the accelerated bridge program right here on Rt. 93. Unprecedented. That is exactly what we should be doing. That to me is an investment.

We should make an investment and we should certainly index it to inflation, the same way we should with minimum wage. It’s the exact same principle. I’m grateful that the minimum wage will be increased over the next three years, but very disappointed that in a democratic state with the democratic leadership that we have we were not able to index minimum wage so that someone who is earning minimum wage does not lose the value over time.

Had we indexed minimum wage when it was at its peak purchasing power to inflation, which is simply to say that after 40 hours worth of work in 1968, what you could afford then you should still be able to afford in 2014, we would already be paying over $10 an hour.

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Mr. Lake went on to note that equality needs to be a focus moving forward, among men and women, as well as individuals in different socioeconomic classes. When asked if he had anything else to add, he had this to say:

“One thing is that I look forward to working with Mayor Curtatone, to deliver not just a partnership between state and local government, but to work with the mayor to exchange best practices such as SomerStat, but also making sure we’re investing in our infrastructure and specifically public transportation.”

We wish Mr. Lake the best of luck in the forthcoming election and thank him for his time.