The Boston Herald is reporting that Governor Deval Patrick is going to announce this morning a new push to utilize civilian flaggers on State road jobs. The Governor and his process have been subjected to claims of “phony reform” because of the paltry dollar figure associated with the use of flagmen. With this new program Massachusetts Highway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky estimates State savings in “the millions”. From the Herald story:

Officials aim to more than double the use of civilian flaggers stationed at construction sites throughout the state, a figure that now stands at 71. Last fall, the state saved a paltry $12,500 by using 29 flaggers, but by the end of the year, Patrick hopes to station flaggers at more than half the state’s roadway detail sites.

The Police Unions fired back, questioning the Governor’s savings figures, as well as claiming that the new policy will “diminish public safety.”

“We’re still skeptical of the savings this brings,” said Hugh Cameron, president of the Massachusetts Coalition of Police AFL-CIO. Cameron noted Patrick’s original savings estimate of $5.7 million was inflated by about $1 million, according to a recent audit that also suggested public safety could suffer. State AFL-CIO spokesman Tim Sullivan was more pointed, saying “the fact of the matter is there’s little to no savings and (flaggers) come at a cost of public safety.”

The Governor seems eager to now seize the “reform” issue across a wide spectrum of issues. From where I am sitting it is the only real option available to him. He will be heavily criticized by the police unions, but sometimes short term pain means long term gain. When the Governor makes his announcement we will post it here.