GLOUCESTER SENATOR IS TIRELESS

10/16/05--From the Eagle Tribune (reprinted with permission)

by Catherine Williams

Correspondent 

BOSTON — Some say government is Sen. Bruce E. Tarr's life. So would he.

"Right now, probably 80 to 90 percent of my life is government," said Tarr, R-Gloucester. "Friends would tell me I should spend more time in leisurely pursuits. But that hasn't happened yet. This is far too interesting."

Tarr, 41, is one of only six Republican senators among a sea of 34 Democrats. He is the minority whip and a member of seven legislative committees. It is hard to imagine when he has time to relax.

His dedication is reflected in the estimated 60,000 miles he puts on his Yukon annually, driving to and from the 17 communities he represents.

"He has a long chain attached to his desk," Susan Testaverdi, Tarr's chief of staff, said.

She has worked for Tarr for 15 years and said she tries her best to keep up with him.

Time is Tarr's biggest — and maybe his only — enemy.

"In spite of his party affiliation, I'm very proud of him," said a smiling Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, D-Boston. "A lot of the issues he tackles cover the whole commonwealth. He is a very hard-working, very well-respected member of this body."

Hard work is a family trait. Tarr and his older brothers — Brian, 54, and Brent, 53 — learned it early. The family still owns the farm where the boys fed horses and hoed gardens.

Bruce E. Tarr was born on Jan. 2, 1964, at Addison-Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, a hospital that he later worked to save.

His mother's family owned a chain of gas stations where Tarr and his brothers worked. While pumping gas at Tally's Corner in Gloucester, Tarr learned that he liked talking to people.

The family was always passionate about politics, said Bill Taliadoros, Tarr's uncle. And Tarr caught political fever early: He held a campaign sign for a mayoral candidate when he was 9.

He graduated from Gloucester High, Suffolk University and received his law degree from Suffolk Law School in 1990.

After serving on the Gloucester Republican City Committee and the Essex County Republican Committee, and interning with the U.S. attorney's Massachusetts district office, Tarr decided to run for a House seat in 1990. Campaigning for someone else just wasn't enough.

While he knocked on doors and pounded the sidewalks of his districts, he was studying for the bar exam. At age 25, he won by an 11 percent margin. He got the news he passed the bar the day after he won.

"Legislatively, I couldn't ask for a better partner," said Rep. Anthony Verga, D-Gloucester, who has often worked with Tarr.

Tarr's appearance is purposeful and polished. His dark hair is dusted with gray. His blue eyes always fix on the person he is talking to. His voice is clear and confident.

"No one ever wants to speak after Sen. Tarr because he's such a magnificent orator," Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey said.

He ran for an open Senate seat in 1994 and won.

Tarr was named assistant minority whip in 1999 and was elevated to minority whip in 2001 by Minority Leader Brian P. Lees. The title gives him the privilege of crafting legislation on behalf of his party and awards him a $15,000 boost in pay.

For the past several weeks, he has worked to bring together opposing sides of Melanie's Bill, legislation aimed at increasing penalties for repeat drunken drivers. The bill's tough stand caused some representatives to question the constitutionality of the bill.

This isn't the first time Tarr has acted as negotiator. In 2003, he created a task force to hoist Gloucester's Addison-Gilbert Hospital from financial ruin.

"Politics is the art of compromise and Bruce has got that," Lees said.

Tarr's staff agrees. Testaverdi said the senator has never raised his voice.

"He is the essence of a mediator," his chief of staff said.

Most of his colleagues praise him for his work on a stem cell research bill that became law after the Legislature voted to override Gov. Mitt Romney's veto.

"I know that I am never going to win based on sheer numbers," Tarr said. "If I am going to prevail, it's going to be because of my intellect, my persuasiveness and my ability to produce a compelling argument."

Colleagues said he is a master of data because he gets information from sources on both sides of an issue. He invited scientists to his conference table at the Statehouse, then visited them in a lab at Children's Hospital in Boston.

"The best thing about serving in the Senate is that you're learning something every day and people are willing to teach you if you just ask," Tarr said.

When he began his political career, his platform was "efficiency and effectiveness in government." It is hard to categorize Tarr because he spends his time honing compromise. He seems mostly Republican with a sliver of Democrat.

He supports business, low taxes and is wary of big government. The National Rifle Association gave him with an A-plus rating for his work in 2004.

At times, Tarr parts from his party platform. He has supported pro-choice legislation and chosen the environment over business. In fact, Tarr was the only Republican state legislator in 2004 endorsed by the Sierra Club of Massachusetts.

Not everyone is pleased with his performance. The Massachusetts Teachers Association gave him a 56 percent rating, one of the lowest in the Senate, for his 2003-04 voting record on education. Welfare and poverty advocates have given him lukewarm reviews in recent years.

But Tarr is popular with his constituents.

Mounted on the walls of his outer office are more than 30 plaques given to him by community groups from Gloucester to Georgetown.

And there is a drawer full of plaques that nobody seems to have time to hang, 150 e-mails a day to respond to and countless events to attend. It seems that Tarr barely has time to eat even fast food.

"I'd love to be able to add time to the day and days to the week," he said.

In his leisure time, the senator cruises on his boat or hits the ski slopes. But the consensus is: He only takes day trips.

"In the 15 years I have worked for him, he has never taken a week off," Testaverdi said.

Tarr's inner office is quiet enough where he might reflect or relax. A photograph of an aging man beside a wooden cart rests near his desk. It is his grandfather, Constantine, selling produce. It's one of Tarr's two favorite things. The other one is a picture of his Uncle Mike pumping gas, hard at work.