New liaison to Eastie chosen

Ernani DeAraujo is the new liaison to East Boston for Mayor Menino. A native of the neighborhood, DeAraujo, 28, attended Boston Latin and Harvard, and he has a law degree from Washington and Lee University. He interned at the White House for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and most recently he worked for the Boston law firm Foley Hoag.

DeAraujo has been meeting people who are active on neighborhood issues, and he seems enthusiastic about his new job. I wouldn't be surprised if we see him rise up the political ladder in the coming years.

Photo from Facebook.

Debate feedback

What did you think about tonight's debate between Mayor Menino and Councilor Flaherty? Did you watch? Key moments? Was there a winner? Comment here.

Globe poll shows Menino +20%; Flaherty's internals show half that

The Globe released the results of a new poll in the mayoral race that shows the gap between the incumbent and his challenger has closed somewhat. Mayor Thomas Menino, however, still has a 20-point advantage over City Councilor Michael Flaherty.

Flaherty has clearly gained some ground since the spring, when a similar poll showed a 38-point split, as voters have become more focused on the race, the field was narrowed by the preliminary election and some of the challengers allegations against the current administration -- most notably the missing email fiasco -- have failed to disappear.

Menino leads Flaherty in the two-man race, 52-32 percent, according to the poll. An incredible 69 percent of those surveyed have a favorable view of the mayor -- numbers that any politician would covet. Flaherty's favorability rating is at 50 percent.

Update (10/18): The Boston Phoenix reports that the Flaherty camp is questioning the Globe poll, as their internal numbers -- provided to the weekly paper -- show a much different picture. In that poll, Menino's lead among "likely voters" (which the Globe's poll did not exclusively include) shrinks to 10 percent -- and 7 just percent among "definite voters."

That seems more in keeping with a nervous City Hall, as I wrote about above. Thanks to the commenter who pointed me to the Phoenix on this.

The plot thickens (Update below)

A second computer is suddenly found in a back room? Top city aide Michael Kineavy temporarily steps down? Secretary of State Bill Galvin says that City Hall has been unresponsive to his requests? Some wonder openly whether politics is slowing the response of Attorney General Martha Coakley? Councilor Mike Flaherty tossing out accusations on the campaign trail?

The Menino Administration's Emailgate is exploding big time, fueled by the race for mayor that is just weeks away.

Update (10/8): Meanwhile, the East Boston Times published a laughable little editorial in this week's paper, saying that this is a "big to-do" that "the Boston dailies are trying to trump up over a bunch of useless e-mails..." I'm not sure how the Times knows the content of the emails, since not all of them have been recovered AND since a second computer was discovered. Are these talking points directly from City Hall?

I don't understand how anyone would think it acceptable for emails to be erased in violation of state law and in violation of a subpoena in the Dianne Wilkerson/Chuck Turner corruption case -- especially a newspaper. If there's nothing to hide then why is the Menino Administration dragging its feet?

Well, at least the Times comments occur on the editorial page this time and not in a Page 1 "news story" as happened a few weeks ago. In fact, there is something poetic about this Times editorial, with its one-sentence paragraphs and vivid imagery:

It is a hurricane without winds or rain,
a tornado without a swirling funnel cloud,
and an earthquake without a tremor

Reminds me of a line from Hamlet: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

The Times is failing us

The East Boston Times political coverage this week is atrocious. I try not to constantly harp on the local weekly, but we are in election season and our neighborhood newspaper is NOT doing what it should: presenting the candidates and the issues so that voters can make informed decisions.

First, it is inexcusable that the Times has not mentioned this evening's mayoral debate at the East Boston Social Center. Clearly, the paper is completely in the tank for the incumbent, Tom Menino, who has decided to skip tonight's forum. Hey, that's his right, but how can the local weekly not mention that it is taking place? That is a misuse of the public trust.

Then, in a front-page "story" AND in an editorial-page piece, the Times dismisses the current controversy about deleted city emails that the Globe -- a real newspaper -- broke and has been following. "Ah, we all delete emails," is the Times' argument, ignoring that it is against the law for city employees to do so and that a state judge issued a court order last year ordering the city not to erase electronic communications. One would think that a newspaper would be on the side of those advocating transparency in government and the free flow of information.

And speaking of the front page story, one email that I received today described it as "an obituary about the other three candidates," and that's what it is. The same goes for the story on the District 1 City Council race. "[Christian] Kulikowski has made some good arguments," the Times says, "but with less than a week left...[he] is still virtually unknown to the voters [in East Boston]." Gee, why is he unknown in Eastie? And what are those good arguments? You wouldn't know from reading the local weekly. Kulikowski is running against incumbent Sal LaMattina, and we know that the Times cannot resist fawning all over any of our elected officials.

(FULL DISCLOSURE: I personally know LaMattina, State Rep. Carlo Basile and State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, and I do some work for the councilor. I think highly of each of them, but that doesn't mean I think they, or any elected official, should get a free pass from any media organization.)

As an intelligent, engaged citizenry, we need to demand more from the East Boston Times. We should expect objective reporting and coverage of events, people and issues based on how they interest and affect neighborhood residents, rather than the personal likes and dislikes of the newspaper. If we don't insist on this, then we deserve what is getting served up now.

Update (9/19): The Independent Newspaper Group, which owns The East Boston Times and eight other weeklies, has finally upgraded the Times web site, improving it and some of its other sites to the level that the readers of their Revere Journal have enjoyed for more than two years. It's not great, but stories are archived, the print edition can be viewed and comments seem to be allowed. I'm not sure when new issues are published online, but there does seem to be a delay between the printed and online versions.

Was feast killed by politics?

The web site Change for Boston has a lengthy post on the cancellation of this year's Italia Unita festival. The site claims that the annual East Boston feast was, in essence, squashed by the mayor in a case of political retribution. Here is the key paragraph:

Long time East Boston resident and talk show host Michelle McPhee says the real story is the festival organizer Pasquale Capogreco, president of Italia Unita, is a Michael Flaherty supporter for the Boston Mayor’s race. Menino told Richard Lynds – executive director of the East Boston Foundation, a trust that supports community organizations – to pull the plug on the funding. Lynds had multiple weak reasons not to grant the festival the its annual $15,000 commitment.

Now, Change for Boston seems to be expressly devoted to unseating Menino in the coming mayoral election. The posts on the site are written by "ADMIN," so for all I know it could be part of Councilor Flaherty's campaign, and I can't find any other references on the Internet to McPhee breaking this story.

I have no other information on this issue, but I thought I'd point out the allegation.