For Patrick, a working vacation in western Mass.

Steve LeBlanc

Gov. Deval Patrick has all but disappeared from public view over the past three weeks, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t made his presence felt — or worked to consolidate his power.

From his vacation home in western Massachusetts, Patrick has seized control of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, named a new chairman of the state Board of Education and appointed a new head of the state’s Board of Higher Education.

He also named MBTA Police Chief Joseph Carter as the new head of the Massachusetts National Guard, the first black person appointed to the top post in the Guard’s 370-year history.

All that while vacationing at his 7,500-square-foot home in the western Massachusetts town of Richmond.

“The governor and his family are enjoying a two-and-a-half-week vacation,” Patrick spokeswoman Cyndi Roy said.

According to his official schedule, Patrick has made just three public appearances in nearly three weeks — two funerals for Massachusetts soldiers killed in Iraq and a picnic at Six Flags New England for Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe.

His last official event was on Aug. 6, when Patrick delivered welcoming remarks at the National Conference of State Legislatures and appointed an 18-member panel to draw up blueprints to expand education opportunities in the state.

Since then, the Red Sox’s lead over the Yankees began to slim (before rebounding in recent days), the state has enjoyed an unseasonably cool August and the first criminal indictment in last year’s Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse was announced.

Aides say Patrick has been working hard during his time away, inviting senior staff to his vacation home for meetings and keeping in regular contact about daily developments. He’s been in the state the entire time, they said.

They also say he’s using part of his vacation to review documents related to casino gambling. Patrick is expected to make a decision soon about whether he will support casinos in Massachusetts.

But his critics say Patrick’s time away from the office is a better deal than most workers get during their first year on the job.

“Now I know why Deval Patrick worked so hard and campaigned so hard to become governor. It comes with unlimited vacation time,” said Robert Willington, interim executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party.

Of course, Patrick’s extended absence from Beacon Hill doesn’t compare to the absences of former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who spent more than 200 days out of Massachusetts last year as he ramped up his campaign for president.

And unlike Romney, Democratic analyst Mary Anne Marsh said, Patrick has spent a good portion of his time away focused on the state’s needs, instead of his personal political ambitions.

“Sounds like a working vacation,” she said. “It’s clear that if he’s taking a vacation he’s doing an awful lot of work, so give him credit for that. He’s been a much more hands-on governor.”

Taking time off in August — even for three weeks — is a smart political move, according to Tobe Berkovitz, a Boston University communications professor who has been a political consultant.

“As governor, you don’t want to wear out your welcome on people’s televisions and newspapers day in and day out,” he said. “You don’t want to be overexposed.”

And the best time not to be overexposed, Berkovitz said, is during the dog days of summer, when many other people are on vacation too and few have an appetite for major public policy debates.

“The only downside is if people think you’re an absentee governor, but he’s staying active,” Berkovitz said.

While it’s his first vacation since taking office, it’s not Patrick’s first since being elected last November. In December, Patrick took 10 days off immediately before his inauguration for a trip to Africa.

He also is faring slightly better than most working stiffs in Massachusetts — although aides say it’s hard to compare being governor to punching a time clock.

The average worker in Massachusetts is entitled to 10.9 days of vacation during their first year on the job — the most number of days of any region in the country — according to statistics compiled by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nationally, managers and professionals tend to get more vacation time, averaging 12.2 vacation days in their first year.

(Associated Press)