Possible Connection to The Wilkerson Corruption Charge? See Below! —
The globe reports today that the Menino administration has been breaking the public records law for years. Micheal Kineavy, its reported, has deleted every one of his emails over a period of 6 months.
The acknowledgement came after the Globe filed several requests for e-mails sent and received by Menino’s Cabinet chief of policy and planning, Michael J. Kineavy. He is one of Menino’s most powerful and trusted advisers, intimately involved in nearly everything at City Hall, but a search of city computers found just 18 e-mails he had sent or received between Oct. 1, 2008, and March 31 of this year.
Either Michael Kineavy has a lot of time on his hands and doesn’t do anything or he is trying to hide a lot of funny business. Mr. Kineavy, my advice to you, get an attorney, asap.
What is Mayor Menino trying to hide? The fact that he doesn’t have email is weird to me because it is 2009 and not 1998, but it could be because he didn’t want a trail of well, all of this stuff.
Does this help take Menino down?
HowardJP, you worked for the man, how does this play with you?
Is this the culture we deserve or ask for at city hall?
Lots going on in politics these days.
I’ve never understood why some people seem to think that every email, phone call, or in-person conversation needs to be scrutinized and public. Minutes of meetings should be recorded, but we don’t need to be constant flies on the wall to informal exchanges.
Where are the backups? What happened to the emails? Did they go and pick apart the backups? This is more than a glitch and more than just a casual conversation, it is years worth of materials that are PUBLIC RECORDS.
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p>When the FBI was investigating the corruption charges against a state senator and city councilor, did they not run into this problem? Wasn’t it odd that the mayors chief of planning and policy deletes all emails?
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p>This stinks. Plain and simple.
You’ll need to show conspiracy or otherwise deliberate destruction of evidence. I’m also not saying he shouldn’t follow the laws currently on the books. I just think this is often much adieu about nothing. Public records should be stored by other means anyway. I delete most emails as soon as I read them. We certainly don’t need to save conversations that go something like this:
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p>MAYOR: What do you think might be the best way to handle X?
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p>AIDE: My suggestion would be Y though Z might work as well.
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p>It’s just a chat which could easily have taken place in person with nobody else in the room.
Mayor Mumbles is breaking the law. I must say that this comes as a complete surprise. Rules are for you and I. The Mayor, the Legislature, and Deval kinda make ’em up as they go. So where is the Suffolk County DA?
From candidate for Mayor, Michael Flaherty:
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p>This could be a wedge issue for Coakley if she has to act. Not sure the law here and who’s domain it is. Flaherty being a former Assistant District Attorney might.
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p>Coakley is wooing a lot of elective officials and getting an endorsement from Menino looked good a few days ago, not sure about now.
October 2008? Is this when the Wilkerson story broke? Kineavy starts deleting his emails in October 2008, maybe because of an impending indictment?
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p>Why yes. This could be a smoking gun.
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p>Coincidence?
Nobody better at it than Lyndon B. Johnson, who, when finding out that that the person who had the temerity to run against him when he was Majority Leader, happened to be a pig farmer.
It is said that Johnson instructed his campaign manager to start circulating the story that the farmer was rumored to have sexual intercourse with his pigs.
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p>I can’t prove he’s a pig f%#*^r! said the campaign manager.
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p>I just want to hear him deny it. said Lyndon.
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and Karl Rove (is Michael Kineavy the Karl Rove of Boston politics?) that is not the case here. Answer this question please. Why would Michael Kineavy who was questioned in the Federal Corruption case start deleting ALL of his emails the same month that the story broke? Are you saying this is a coincidence?
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p>Please explain?
the story is a little cautionary tale that might prompt speculation about the motivations of a person making speculative allegations about a public officials behavior or motivations in the hopes of prompting an indignant or incriminating response.
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p>How’s that for three dimensional chess.
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the question. Is it your contention that it is a coincidence that Michael Kineavy started deleting every one of his emails the same month that the Wilkerson story broke? If it is, fine, if not please give me your take. You have been on the inside and outside of public policy debates and the political arena for some time. Coincidence or not?
I am not even going to speculate on your motivations or who you are.
Motivation is to get to the truth. Actually I was quite excited about making the date connections before any news outlet.
are careful before making idle speculations about possible involvement of someone in the middle of an active federal criminal prosecution. Maybe because they have their names and reputations on the line, and maybe even a lawyer.
public officials should be careful before they delete public records “in the middle of an active federal criminal prosecution.
It is impossible to be a local public official in the Commonwealth and NOT understand the open meetings and public records laws. Menino has openly violated the law in this instance and because he is a powerful Democrat he will get nothing but a polite reprimand.
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p>Hypocrisy is alive and well in the Commonwealth!
People sometimes get upset when three selectmen or school committee members run into each other and start chatting (three being quorum if total membership is five). Especially in small towns, they are likely to be neighbors and even friends outside of their public positions. As long as votes are taken in public and there is opportunity for public input on decisions being made, I’m satisfied.
In case the phrase “smoke and mirrors” doesn’t ring a bell, check out items 24 and 25 of the complaint against former Senator Dianne Wilkerson [PDF].
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p>From 24: “Dejavu’s application for a license did not appear on the agenda that day. Agents attended the public hearing and there was no public discussion of Dejavu’s application or a public vote to grant Dejavu any type of license.”
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p>From 25: “On August 16 2007, the Boston Licensing Board issued a letter notifying Dejavu that its petition for a malt and wine license had been granted.”
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p>Unsatisfied yet?
I said there needed to be an opportunity for public input. That means of course putting it on the agenda so the public can know when that opportunity is.
Geez ….
I was bringing an example of an instance where Christopher’s floor for satisfaction – decisions made after public votes and public input – failed to be reached.
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p>That said, I did choose the example because despite the BLB’s official status as a state body, it is practically controlled by the City of Boston.
Hard to say it is a state body, when it meets in city hall and it is rumored that all decisions go through Menino or Kineavy. Which is exactly why these emails are important. The fear of many people is that the “independent” BRA and the “state” body or licensing board reports to the mayors office, and these emails might somehow shed light on this process. Rumors are only rumors, but their seems to be intent or some effort to hide communications between key administration staff at a critical juncture in a corruption investigation. This does not pass the smell test in anyway shape or form.
and I’m not sure whether the present Governor has had an appointment yet.
Awesome! Unfortunately the DA needs to be satisfied and each DA interprets the open meeting laws differently. My guess is that the Suffolk County DA does not interpret these pesty laws at all. Menino rules.
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p>2. The Mayor may be wise in not sending e-mail, given the media lust for these documents at all levels of govt. Believe it or not, there was a time without e-mail.
A long time ago people dueled in the streets and that was a generally accepted manner of settling disputes.
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p>I remember a time when cars didn’t have EPA standards and the environment wasn’t a concern.
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p>Email is progress.
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p>Voice mail is progress.
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p>Innovation and inclusive public policies allow for the exchange of ideas and makes communication between OUR elected officials and residents easier. To say he is smart not to send emails is silly. Is the President silly because he uses a computer and a blackberry? I would argue not. He is in touch with today’s society, more so than a mayor who has never sent an email. It reminds me of George H. Bush going to a supermarket in 1992 and not knowing what a scanner was.
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p>As for your first point, it is hardly even a comparison to send a campaign email to a .gov email address. Mistakes happen. If I sign up right now to any campaign with an email address like “bostonems.org” how is any entity to know that email address is a government email address with the extension .gov or ci. not in the address? Weak argument.
And it’s less the fact that e-mails have gone to these addresses, and private e-mails as well, then where they got the addresses from, which is most likely from their publicly-funded “constituent” newsletters. And that was no mistake.