SWEET VICTORY: Deval Patrick greets supporters the night of November 7.

Deval Patrick has plenty to do in the first few months, what with choosing staff and building relationships. But even as that happens, there are issues that simply can’t wait for action.

Indeed, one of the biggest initial tasks will be to determine what not to tackle, say a variety of close Beacon Hill observers and insiders whom the Phoenix interviewed last week. Many in the state will be eager, after 16 years of Republican gubernatorial rule, to see abrupt changes in their particular areas of interest. But these observers warn against trying to tackle everything at once. Some agency heads can stay in place for a while; some campaign promises can be delayed until the next fiscal year; and some big issues can be sent for “further study” by a commission or task force.

The key is separating that which can be put off from that which can’t. With that in mind, here is a list of the ten most pressing issues facing the state’s new leader — the ones Patrick must deal with. Because, ready or not, here they come.

1) Fix the fiscal year (FY) ’07 shortfall. Mitt Romney has been cooking the books. Republicans in far-away states might be impressed by his claim that he is leaving the state with a $1 billion budget surplus, but Massachusetts taxpayers must face the reality that current fiscal-year revenues will fall short of expenditures by anywhere from $150 million to more than $300 million, according to current estimates. The new governor is walking in midway through the fiscal year, and must make up that difference somewhere.

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Romney declined to provide even the most obvious and simple solution to this projected shortfall, when he vetoed a $450 million transfer from the rainy-day fund. That drops the problem in Patrick’s lap. Patrick could, of course, take that route — but doing so would likely preclude suggestions for dipping into that fund down the line, which he might need to do in order to fund his pet projects, like statewide full-day kindergarten.

The alternative, then, is to implement a creative cost-cutting measure right away, one that will save money in the final six months of the fiscal year. Those options must be discussed immediately after the election.

2) Parse the transportation issue. Roads and bridges are falling apart while the government dallies, and they aren’t getting any cheaper to repair. The issue, which has languished on the back burner, will be thrust front and center as soon as the Transportation Finance Commission releases its long-delayed report, which commission members say could be as early as next week. (Not that they’ve been holding it until after the election or anything.) Among the scary price tags: $250 million needed for repairs to Storrow Drive and the Longfellow Bridge, according to Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and member of the commission.

The huge costs of maintenance and repairs, expansions (such as rail service to New Bedford and Fall River, and the Silver Line tunnel to Logan Airport), and service improvements will sour any spending plans Patrick may have — unless he quickly defuses the situation with a set of discrete, prioritized policies that define what projects to green light and which to scrap. “The new governor needs to find himself a first-class transportation secretary and begin to move on this stuff right away,” says former governor Michael Dukakis.

Meanwhile, quick action will be needed if Patrick wants to stave off Romney’s plans to tear down the Turnpike tollbooths and raise the T fares — a combination that is “in effect putting another commuter tax in place,” says Dukakis.

3) Establish Big Dig oversight. It won’t be enough to take over Romney’s whiteboard and magic marker. Patrick needs to immediately make a significant oversight move, if only to fuel public perception of his direct engagement. “He’s going to have to talk about the Big Dig and put in place a plan for independent oversight,” says Scott Harshbarger, former attorney general and onetime gubernatorial candidate.

Deciding the nature of the governor’s role is trickier. On one hand, appointing an independent body, free of political pressures, might be good policy and would get the massive project out of the governor’s hair for a while, but it could also be criticized as a sign of disengagement. Plus, there are already a lot of different groups investigating who did what wrong and what to do about it, from the US Attorney’s Office to the US Department of Transportation (new attorney general Martha Coakley is asking to be named special prosecutor). Perhaps the governor could come up with a more creative way to assist those efforts, like naming a special inspector general for the Big Dig investigation, to make sure that all the agencies, prosecutors, and commissions are getting access to the information and documents they need. In any event, the new governor needs “a group to think about it before the swearing-in,” Harshbarger says.