Closing thoughts: An interview with Konstantina Lukes, incoming Worcester Mayor
Question authority
Incoming Worcester Mayor Konstantina Lukes, who takes the seat vacated by Lieutenant Governor-elect Tim Murray, says she learned early in life to distrust the government. The eight-term city councilor-at-large, the second-biggest vote-getter in the last election, says she has always based her outlook on questioning whether government works in the best interest of its citizens. With a change in leadership at the state level and with so many projects in development in Worcester, she talks about the need for a city government environment that’s conducive to change – and the need for a public forum in which to make those changes.
Lukes: I come to the mayorship based on a popular vote rather than the selection of my peers. The popular vote indicates there is some support for independent thought, and fiscal conservatism.
I’ve always had a place in my heart for outsiders, having been labeled one myself. My parents were Albanian immigrants who were cut off from their families in the Old Country and I learned early in life that certain governments had to be distrusted. I had a godfather who went back to the old country to Albania, didn’t like it, tried to leave and was then [made] a political prisoner for 15 years. All mail was censored; you couldn’t travel in or out of the country.
The Lukes File: |
Born:Waterbury, CT, “some time ago.”
Education: Simmons College, BS in Education;
University of Connecticut School of Law
Started career: Legal: Assistant Clerk, Probate
Court, Hartford: Political: Board of Citizens Plan E;
City Manager’s Committee on the Status of
Women; elected to Worcester City Council, 1980.
Biggest career challenge: Running for office in
1979 for the first time as a relative newcomer.
Biggest career achievement: Being able to get
consistently re-elected despite an “outsider” label.
Just for fun: Getting out in public, hosting the
“Coffee with Konnie” cable show.
So early on having formed this image of how some governments operate, I think it was almost a given that I would look at all government operations and behavior. That’s how I grew up. Even as mayor I don’t think I should be immune from criticism and I should have at least the dual responsibility of looking at government and expressing an opinion as to whether it’s functioning in the best interests of its citizens.
Now, there is some concern in the business community that the mayor should be the chief civic cheerleader. And only that. [I agree, but the mayor should] also point out the problems when they exist. The last thing we need in Massachusetts is to perpetuate the Big Dig mentality, where problems exist but they re avoided and denied until a crisis occurs.
As a result of my popular election, even though it’s ceremonial, the public has a higher expectation of what the office can accomplish. Sometimes, [the mayor’s role] may appear to compete with the city manager, and it is not my intention to compete with the city manager.
WBJ: Is that a subjective judgment?
Lukes: I don’t think it’s just subjective. I’ll be able to [evaluate] that further when I’m actually [Mayor]. I support Plan E government and have for many years opposed a strong mayor. I’m not inclined to forget my support of Plan E. I don’t see myself in an adversarial position with the city manager. In fact, I was unhappy with the way the prior council treated [former City Manager] Tom Hoover, in terms of [his dismissal and the lack of a national search to replace him]. As you recall, the two women and the Latino city councilors were excluded from any of those deliberations, however formal or informal they may have been.
WBJ: Is that because you weren’t on the committee that made the decisions?
Lukes: There was no committee. There was no formal process. It was accomplished without the public or three city councilors knowing anything about it. That’s an issue of team play. How do you define team play and consensus? Should part of it be conducted in a public forum? It wasn’t then, and that was probably one of the most important decisions that could be made by a city council.
WBJ: Do you think this history is going to affect the way you work with City Manager O’Brien?
Lukes: Well, Mr. O’Brien has had the happy circumstance of forging his own identity with his own successes, so that the unhappy memories of what happened to his predecessor have been to a certain degree eliminated. There are still many people in the public who haven’t forgotten the process, and are afraid of that kind of process. So am I.
We do need to have an environment that’s conducive to change, and at the same time there should be public disclosure and debate on the type of changes that occur. It should not be at the expense of a cooperative and deliberative process. Just because we deliberate as a body doesn’t mean you can’t cooperate as a body. I think the two go hand in hand. And that would be my goal. That means we continue the very positive relationship we have with administration and each other.
I have been in city government since 1980. It is very clear I understand how government operates and I understand the need for cooperation and deliberation. The public is accustomed to voting for me and the element of surprise is overstated and unwarranted. I have every hope that this next year will bring a very stable and, let’s put it this way, a productive transition.
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