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NECN profiles Kevin McCrea as Mayor Menino hides from political questions about emails and phone records.

By Christopher King

The NECN feature will air this evening during the 9:00 news hour. I will watch it with Kevin's camp from Doyle's in Jamaica Plain, as we meet and greet at 9:00pm after the MassVote debate at which Mayor Menino will likely NOT attend, he-heh.

Read this post and watch these YouTube videos about the deleted and scrubbed Michael Kineavy emails, and remember that no one has yet publicly challenged Mayor Menino to produce his private phone records even though he uses his private phone to conduct public business. That cannot happen anymore in a progressive government, as Governor Palin learned:

"Anyway, state lawyers say that the governor's e-mails about public business [on her private blackberry] should be treated like any other public record, even if she's sent them through a private account such as Yahoo.

"I think that it's total hypocrisy from what she stood for at the beginning of her campaign," Henning said. "Because she campaigned on open government, and she knew that using a private e-mail account would take it and basically hide stuff that people couldn't see."

As far as McLeod can tell, all but one of the e-mails to the governor used her private e-mail address. The one time an aide e-mailed the governor's state account, he was reminded not to.

"Frank, This is not the Governor's personal e-mail account," an assistant to Palin wrote to Bailey in February.

"Whoops~!" Bailey responded in an e-mail."

Detroit's Kwame Kirkpatrick learned the flip side last year -- using state equipment for private endeavors like illicit, extramarital booty calls as the AP Story read in pertinent part:

?At a time when this city needed transparency, accountability and responsibility, you exhibited hubris and privilege at the expense of the city,?

-Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner, sentencing Kwame Kilpatrick to four (4) months of hard time in jail.

From the Boston Herald's "Nowhere Man" story today: Embattled Mayor Thomas M. Menino - under fire for the mass deletion of potentially crucial e-mail evidence on his watch - blew off an East Boston candidates? forum for a swanky Newbury Street gala last night, leaving his three rivals to blast away at an empty chair.

?My first question is to the mayor: Where are you?? East Boston Land Use Council President Joe Mason asked, speaking to the mayor?s vacant seat on stage.

Just days away from a hotly contested Tuesday preliminary, Menino ducked a firing squad of challengers who want the attorney general to probe why his top aide Michael Kineavy deleted public e-mails - even as federal investigators subpoenaed his messages in their bribery case against disgraced state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson.

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But that's just the half. The other half is the phone records for Mayor Menino's private phone when used in a public capacity. For a City that is home to more high-tech companies and think tanks than the Silicon Valley, the Mayor's office is suspiciously behind the times. That has to change, I told NECN's Alison King.

"TIme will come when the Mayor has a dedicated phone, paid for by taxpayers that is ALWAYS subject to review and the call history and bill must be published online every month."

Yep. The bullshit has got to stop.

PS: The best shoe shine in Boston is handled by Marvin E. Watkins (pictured in leather hat) at Exceptional Shoe Care Service. The pick up and deliver, and Marvin may be reached at 508.933.0284 Marv I'll get your video up soon :)

Full post as published by Chris King's 1st Amendment Page on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).