As police chief in Arlington County, Va., Edward Flynn was only vaguely aware of this fall's election in Massachusetts. Then his phone rang in late November and a voice asked, "Could you hold for Governor-elect Romney?"
It was the start of a swift and surprising courtship that led to Flynn's appointment as public safety secretary. Flynn flew to Massachusetts and spent an hour talking with Romney, and liked his views on crime, which he said were more sophisticated than "lock 'em up and throw away the key." Flynn was intrigued that the Republican never asked about his party registration.
But what truly sold him was Romney's response when Flynn pointed out that, in the past, public safety secretaries seemed hamstrung by politically installed underlings.
"He looked me in the eye," Flynn said. "He said, 'If I offer you a job and you take it, you pick your team. I'm not going to saddle you with my patronage.' Well . . . , I've worked in three states now. For someone like that to offer that kind of authority to someone they're hiring for expertise, not politics — that's huge. . . . I didn't know how to say no."
As they recall their recruitment for senior posts by Mitt Romney, incoming members of the administration describe a governor-elect with a sharp focus on efficiency and management, and an unusual willingness to grant his appointees broad power and strong voices in shaping state government. They were surprised by how little he seemed to talk about politics, and they say Romney encouraged them to be frank with their opinions, and that he values lively debate.
That same promise of independence and clout that appealed to Flynn helped Romney lure Doug Foy, president of an environmental advocacy group, the Conservation Law Foundation, to a new post he envisioned: chief of commonwealth development, overseeing Massachusetts' transportation, housing and environmental departments. Romney also persuaded Robert Pozen, a former Fidelity Investments vice chairman, to take another newly created job: chief of commerce and labor, with similar sweeping authority over the state's economic development programs.
Foy, who once had turned down an offer to be environmental affairs secretary under former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, said it didn't take him long this time to agree to join Romney's team.
"Working on just one of those agencies I don't think gets the job done," Foy said. "And that was certainly the message that he approached me with. I didn't know him until three weeks ago. It came out of the blue. And it was a surprise — one, that he approached me, and two, that he was going to commit to such a bold initiative."
Romney's willingness to re-examine the structure of state government is a product, some say, of his experience in the private sector, where he spent a career as a venture capitalist trying to make businesses function more efficiently. Many also see signals in his early personnel appointments that Romney believes, more than some of his Republican predecessors had, that government, if managed correctly, can play an active role in shaping the state's future.
Other top appointments that have drawn praise include Eric Kriss, the former Weld administration official who is Romney's administration and finance secretary; Dan Grabauskas, former Registry of Motor Vehicles chief, who will be Romney's transportation secretary; and Jane Wallis Gumble, the current director of housing and community development that Romney decided to keep on.
"Bill Weld was very skeptical about what government could accomplish," said Jim Gomes, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, who said he's optimistic about the new administration. "One of the hopes for Governor-elect Romney, given the kind of people he's put into this governor's office, is that he will see his administration using government to address important problems."
Yet how well that vision translates into reality, observers say, will depend on how Romney can adapt his private-sector experience to state government, where wheels turn more slowly, ideological opponents lurk around every corner and it's hard to reshuffle departments or eliminate programs.
"There are all sorts of day-to-day obstacles," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "You have civil service protection. You've got strong public sector unions. You have advocacy groups. And you have the media. . . . In the private sector, you make a decision and you can implement it in a fairly straightforward fashion. It's much more difficult in the public sector."
Indeed, the Romney model, so far, seems to stress a unified message and a clear communications chain of command. Shortly after he was announced as the new transportation secretary, Grabauskas talked about "true coordination across secretariats" and said Romney's team has stressed the need for the administration to "speak with one voice" regarding policies and long-term goals.
And so far, the incoming administration has held tight to information. State House watchers were struck by how few names under consideration for top jobs leaked out of the Romney camp as he assembled his top staff.
But in the hurly-burly of budget negotiations and legislative sessions, it's unclear whether the administration can remain so air-tight.
And it's not certain how much Romney's ambitious team, no matter how disciplined, can achieve right away, in an era of budget contraction and revenue shortfalls. Even some of Romney's own appointees have noted that any visionary moves will be curbed — or, at least, delayed — as the administration evaluates departments and considers possible cuts.
Still, some public policy advocates are impressed by Romney's early hires and say they signal his seriousness about implementing his campaign agenda.
"Time will tell whether the structure will work," said Thomas Callahan, executive director of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance. "But I think the structure makes sense from a logical point of view. It's been too long since we've had the state going out in a comprehensive way to communities, and speaking with one voice on transportation, on housing and on open space."
Some of Romney's approaches to state government — including his interest in growth and development — have precedent, observers note. Democrat Michael Dukakis consolidated similar roles in his own senior staff. And when he first took office in 1991, Weld was as critical about patronage as Romney has been — though before long, he and his Republican successors were using patronage frequently to fill the ranks.
But while Weld and Romney both campaigned as Beacon Hill outsiders, they have taken different approaches to filling a Cabinet, said Todd Domke, a Republican political consultant. Weld, who reveled in the back-and-forth of politics, appointed some Democrats to key positions. To be effective, Weld believed he needed to smooth relations across ideological boundaries, especially after a narrow victory over Democrat John Silber in 1990.
But Romney seems to be thinking less about party labels than pure management as he names Democrats to his team. And even Republicans who worked hard for Romney's election seem to believe that the governor-elect is more focused on finding talented people who can help him tackle government's problems right away than on rewarding political supporters.
"Republicans viewed him and continue to view him as operating at a level above partisan politics, that he is a problem-solver, an executive," Domke said. "And I think Republicans realize that he has inherited something of a fiscal crisis, as well as other problems —and that in a Democratic state, he needs to do some unconventional things."