If You Want Property Tax Relief

You have to get it. If you want more extra curricular activities at your town's schools, you have to get it. The onus is on you, Deval Patrick can only help in getting us there.

That was Governor Patrick's message for voters during today's town meeting at Boston Latin. To some, it may sound harsh. Yet, Deval's speaking truth to power: there are forces in this state whom will block more funding to schools and property tax relief - and why? Because of unfair corporate tax loopholes. Only a few people are blocking tax justice - and those people are on Beacon Hill. We, the constituents, need to be the change we want. We need to be the ones who tell them we put Deval Patrick in power for a reason - that we voted for change and demand the change we want.

However, Deval Patrick isn't leaving us in the lurch, either. He's built an impressive new tool - from his campaign website - to help people around the state organize. Better yet, they get to organize around the issues they care about. It's a totally different way of using the Internet. Use it to convince the legislature to do the right thing and close those the loopholes. Use it to promote important issues that may not necessarily be on everyone's mind. Remarkably, anyone can use it to promote any issue.

So, Deval Patrick's first official foray into changing government has really started. His budget and health care plans were only teasers. The real fun began at 2pm in Boston Latin. New changes are on the way - changes the Governor elaborated on during a discussion with citizen-bloggers from across the state today, after the event - with regular, ordinary people who are trying to make a difference. Today marks a new era in the Patrick Administration: it's the day where he really started being the Governor he talked about during the entire campaign. It's not an office he holds alone, he holds it with all of us - the people who put him in power and who made his massive people-powered army come to fruition. It's an army Speaker DiMasi is going to learn about real soon as he realizes the people come before Verizon.

We do come before Verizon, right? Well, call your state representatives and let them know!