Letter to the Editor: Patrick Provides Steady Leadership

To the Editor: 

The last few years have seen as tough an economic climate as I can remember. The collapse of the housing bubble in 2007-2008 led to a full-blown financial crisis that was in turn followed by a significant nationwide recession and an unusually slow and protracted recovery. No state has been spared.

Under the circumstances, we have been fortunate to have come through these tough times better than many other states, thanks in part to the resilience of Massachusetts' innovation economy, but also thanks in part to steady leadership. The tough decisions that have to be made in times like these will never please everyone, but they have generally been thoughtful and responsible, and have consistently helped to preserve the social framework and to maintain and restore our infrastructure within the constraints of political and economic realities.

Gov. Deval Patrick and his team have demonstrated that they can lead prudently through the bad times, while laying the groundwork for a vigorous and innovative future. Although the first four years have not been without bumps, the current administration has stuck by its principles even when not popular, learned in the job and acquired valuable experience that it would be unwise to cast aside. This is not the time for "change for the sake of change."

A vote to return Gov. Patrick to office on Nov. 2 is the responsible choice.

John Bartenstein

Sanderson Road