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michael
Senior Member
195 Posts |
Posted - 04/12/2009 : 05:00:07 AM
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| Mayor announcement will be coming soon, that part I know to be true this person might not have the money to run but he or she cares about the people in this city and wants to take everett back to the people and not the big wigs with money, this person might even give woodwaste a run for their money by ordering a cease and disist order against them instead of dancing around the subject. |
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johnfounder
Member
43 Posts |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2009 : 11:20:44 AM
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You must be logged in to see this link.
We have emailed the Office of Campaign & Political
Finance and are in contact with one of the members
General Counsel.
If anyone has a copy of the actual audio portion of this
message please email it to us.
All email's are confidential.
Issues we will cover:
Wood Waste of Boston
Purchasing and Procurement
City of Everett Fiscal Issues and the Mayor's
total disregard to take action.
"Deb" |
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2009 : 4:31:56 PM
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You must be logged in to see this link.
From the State Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Section 14: Government Buildings
Soliciting or receiving campaign contributions in a government building is prohibited. Examples include city and town halls, public schools, libraries, police and fire stations and public works buildings.
No one (not just public employees) may:
* sell tickets to a fundraiser or otherwise solicit or collect political contributions in a public building.
* send a solicitation into a government building, such as by phone, mail or e-mail.
* use a public building as the site of a fundraiser, the return address for contributions or the contact phone number for buying tickets to a fundraiser.
* post in a public building any advertisement for a fundraiser.
Use of Public Resources
Public resources (government vehicles, office equipment and supplies and the paid time of public employees) may not be used for political campaign purposes, such as the election of a candidate or the passage or defeat of a ballot question. For example, a public employee may not, during his work day, render campaign service to a candidate or ballot question committee or use office postage or equipment to distribute campaign material.
Visit the Guides section of OCPF's website, You must be logged in to see this link. to download our Campaign Finance Guide: Public Employees, Public Resources and Political Activity.
"Deb" |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2009 : 8:40:34 PM
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From what I understand, no one is leaving their names and it's not getting reported. Perhaps the legal department should be contacted You must be logged in to see this link.
and perhaps the IG should be sent this info too at Office: 617-727-9140 e-mail: MA_OIG@maoig.net
It is a blatant misuse of emergency services and you should not get away with it, for your own agenda, because you have an "in" with the state.
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massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 09:13:12 AM
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Mayor Answers to Allegations
By Keith Spencer
In a mailer sent to supporters and residents through out the city, Mayor Carlo DeMaria asked residents for their input last week about his administration’s job performance since taking office. The mailer ignited debate among some residents after receiving a call from that seemed to originate from the Mayor’s office at city hall.
The phone call prompted what one administration official called “a flurry of fifty or so calls” from residents at the end of last week. Some were simply inquiring about the call while others questioned the legality of using the Mayor’s office phone number, a public resource, for campaign purposes.
The DeMaria administration confirmed that both the mailer and the automatic message were paid for through his committee. However, both instances did not solicit a donation from the resident or their vote in the upcoming election. The mailer and message simply was directed at gauging the opinions of residents on a number of issues.
"The phone call was an automatic message that I paid for through my committee,” said Mayor DeMaria on Monday. “In my job as Mayor, I need to continually ask, ‘What can I do better?’
DeMaria noted that the city’s Reverse-911 system was not used to make the call. An outside vendor was used to make the calls, which persuaded residents to believe the call had originated from a telephone in the Mayor’s office.
“The call was a response to a mailer that I also funded through my committee to gauge opinions on important topics and get answers from a wide range of constituents,” added DeMaria. “I used an outside vendor to make the calls, and we only used my office number as the caller ID."
When questioned about the legality of using the Mayor’s office to conduct these phone calls, the Mayor and his administration said that they do not believe they have violated any campaign finance laws, such as the misuse of public resources for political campaign purposes.
“No laws have been broken,” DeMaria responded emphatically. “My main goal was to get opinions on issues from people who matter most, the people I serve as Mayor of this great city."
Neither the Office of Political and Campaign Finance nor the State Ethics Commission have contacted Mayor DeMaria, members of his administration, or his campaign committee regarding these allegations with one administration official “not expecting any problems in the least bit”. However, the emergence of local bloggers and a new website aimed at smearing the Mayor have continued to call for concerned residents to contact both offices.
DeMaria indicated that the mailer and follow-up call are common practice among elected officials in the area. While it was paid for by the Mayor through his election committee, he reiterated that these communications, in particular the phone call, did not use public funds for election purposes.
“It was all about feedback,” said one administration official. “Not once is a vote or donation solicited in the mailer or in the automated message. We are not misusing public resources. These allegations are completely misguided.”
In a copy of the mailer obtained by The Independent, DeMaria discusses his love and faith in the community especially during these tough, economic times. Acknowledging his responsibility to improve the lives of residents, the Mayor called upon residents receiving the mailer to speak up about their concerns. A detachable comment card asks participants to comment on current city services, their taxes, and other priorities that should be a top priority for the city government.
Despite intentions on receiving performance, concerns, & feedback, the controversy marks the first issue taken on by DeMaria regarding the upcoming mayoral election. While it is unclear who may oppose the mayor in a campaign this fall, residents can now be fairly certain that they will see DeMaria go after a second term with rumors circulating about a re-election campaign kickoff scheduled for mid-May.
"Deb" |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 09:28:15 AM
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No matter what, calls should not have come from 617-394-2270 THE MAYORS OFFICE and his staff should not have been working a campaign during normal businesses hours, and answering calls about a political flyer, when they are "supposed" to be working FOR the residents. He dodged the question about political "activity" in public building.
The mayor also needs to stop blaming local bloggers and a new website that is aimed at "smearing" him. I have not read one LIE on that website. Everything on there has been factual. |
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Ellen
Senior Member
173 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 4:45:48 PM
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Citizens For Everett
Contact Us
Mayor DeMaria
to Layoff
seven
Fire Fighters while his part time office
staff is paid $699.60 per week.
(source City of Everett payroll records)
Wood Waste of Boston Files Zoning Appeal with help of Mayor DeMaria
In today's Everett Independent there is an article titled:
Mayor Confronts Allegations.
Let us first state that this newspaper stating the our website was
created to "smear Mayor DeMaria" is false. The Mayor does a great job
on his own smearing himself. This website states facts using meetings
and the Mayor's own campaign media not to mention official City of
Everett records.
In this article the Mayor admits to using his office phone number in the
calls. Which is a violation of State Ethics laws because his office staff is
using public paid time to answer calls generated from a political
advertisement, and this article also states the fact that the Mayor's
Office is taking calls regarding this pamphlet.
Thank You for placing this article in your paper.
We'll forward it on to the State Ethics Commission.
You must be logged in to see this link. |
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justme
Advanced Member
1428 Posts |
 Posted - 04/15/2009 : 5:59:11 PM
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The news recently had a piece on calls that appear to come from your bank based on the Caller ID name & number but are actually people trying to obtain your personal information. It sounds like that system was used for Carlo's calls.
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 6:35:10 PM
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I'm on a do-not-call list, and I got a call. I know others that are on a do-not-call list, and they got this call too.
It's all not right..... and infuriates me when Carlo goes and does these dumb things, and blames everyone else.
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just wondering
Senior Member
387 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 7:02:06 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Tails
I'm on a do-not-call list, and I got a call. I know others that are on a do-not-call list, and they got this call too.
It's all not right..... and infuriates me when Carlo goes and does these dumb things, and blames everyone else.
Why is it so wrong for a sitting mayor to solicit feedback from his constituents??? You complain that the mayors office operates in a vacuum and not enough information gets out to the public...then you complain about the mayors office operating outside the vacuum when he solicits the opinion of his consituents at NO COST to the city. It makes zero sense. The other options would have been to pay for the mailing and phone calls with city funds......or rely on the opinions of 17 councilors and 7 alderman, skipping the mailing all together...opinions like the one offered by councilman Simonelli "I think people wouldn't mind paying higher taxes to avoid layoffs".
BTW....the title of this topic is "Reverse 911".....when are you people going to apologize for posting without all the facts???? |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 8:13:24 PM
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First of all, I admit that statement by councilor Simonelli wasn’t one of his shiniest moments, but anyone can go to him, anytime, whether his ward or not, and he will go to bat for you. He was upset that night about the Fire and Police, and was trying to help them. He was also worked up over the rumor mill about Frank Champi. I give that man a lot of credit. He stands up for what is right, with none of those other brownnosers backing him.
As for the Mayor, I have no problem with his solicitation, but the law dictates you must do it outside a public building and public phones. This should have been from his house, or campaign headquarters.
He crossed the line when he mailed out that document that was "paid for by the committee to elect Carlo DeMaria” thus making it a political advertisement. The return address on that was City Hall. City Hall is NOT his campaign headquarters.
He can’t use city funds for this, even his reserve account has to be approved by the BOA and CC.
As for the reverse 911 title, I didn’t write it, and that’s what it appeared to be at the time anyway. That’s petty, and I would just deal with it, and stop being harassing.
Also, people are not dumb or naive this “feedback from his constituents” that was mailed out is the same questions that are on political polls.
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 8:30:39 PM
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A couple of excerpts from today's Independent article:
"...others questioned the legality of using the Mayor’s office phone number, a public resource, for campaign purposes."
“The call was a response to a mailer that I also funded through my committee to gauge opinions on important topics and get answers from a wide range of constituents,” added DeMaria. “I used an outside vendor to make the calls, and we only used my office number as the caller ID."
And an excerpt from Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance Campaign Finance Guide: Public Employees, Public Resources and Political Activity:
"“Public resources” are defined as anything that is paid for with public money, whether raised through taxes or fees."
I'll agree with the Mayor; in his job, he needs to constantly ask what he can do better and also get opinions and answers from a wide range of constituents. But once these activities shift over from the Mayor serving in his official capacity to a campaign funded activity, the rules change. And the Mayor clearly admitted that these activities were campaign sponsored.
So these automated call systems allow you to choose the number that you want to appear as the caller id of the call? That makes sense; it allows you to direct any return calls or inquiries where you want them to go. Since this was a campaign sponsored activity, one would assume that they should not appear to come from an official city telephone number just to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
But, I'm just a dope with an opinion. I'm willing to let State Ethics Commission, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the Inspector General's office, etc. to sort out the legality of this. But, no matter what the authorities decide, I personally don't think that using an a city telephone number for a campaign sponsored purpose was a very good idea. |
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just wondering
Senior Member
387 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 8:42:37 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Tails
First of all, I admit that statement by councilor Simonelli wasn’t one of his shiniest moments, but anyone can go to him, anytime, whether his ward or not, and he will go to bat for you. He was upset that night about the Fire and Police, and was trying to help them. He was also worked up over the rumor mill about Frank Champi. I give that man a lot of credit. He stands up for what is right, with none of those other brownnosers backing him.
As for the Mayor, I have no problem with his solicitation, but the law dictates you must do it outside a public building and public phones. This should have been from his house, or campaign headquarters.
He crossed the line when he mailed out that document that was "paid for by the committee to elect Carlo DeMaria” thus making it a political advertisement. The return address on that was City Hall. City Hall is NOT his campaign headquarters.
He can’t use city funds for this, even his reserve account has to be approved by the BOA and CC.
As for the reverse 911 title, I didn’t write it, and that’s what it appeared to be at the time anyway. That’s petty, and I would just deal with it, and stop being harassing.
Also, people are not dumb or naive this “feedback from his constituents” that was mailed out is the same questions that are on political polls.
And had it been a political solicitation it would not have a city hall return address. It was an administration thinking outside the box .....soliciting feedback from 9,000 people instead of just the 25 people that meet every other week. 9,000 people....the majority of whom will provide non politically motivate responses to important questions. |
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Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2009 : 8:55:07 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by just wondering
quote:
Originally posted by Tails
First of all, I admit that statement by councilor Simonelli wasn’t one of his shiniest moments, but anyone can go to him, anytime, whether his ward or not, and he will go to bat for you. He was upset that night about the Fire and Police, and was trying to help them. He was also worked up over the rumor mill about Frank Champi. I give that man a lot of credit. He stands up for what is right, with none of those other brownnosers backing him.
As for the Mayor, I have no problem with his solicitation, but the law dictates you must do it outside a public building and public phones. This should have been from his house, or campaign headquarters.
He crossed the line when he mailed out that document that was "paid for by the committee to elect Carlo DeMaria” thus making it a political advertisement. The return address on that was City Hall. City Hall is NOT his campaign headquarters.
He can’t use city funds for this, even his reserve account has to be approved by the BOA and CC.
As for the reverse 911 title, I didn’t write it, and that’s what it appeared to be at the time anyway. That’s petty, and I would just deal with it, and stop being harassing.
Also, people are not dumb or naive this “feedback from his constituents” that was mailed out is the same questions that are on political polls.
And had it been a political solicitation it would not have a city hall return address. It was an administration thinking outside the box .....soliciting feedback from 9,000 people instead of just the 25 people that meet every other week. 9,000 people....the majority of whom will provide non politically motivate responses to important questions.
You can keep spinning it anyway you want.
How on earth can you say it was not a political statement when it clearly stated “Authorized and Paid for by The Committee to Elect Carlo DeMaria”
"Thinking outside the box"........If his "Committee to Elect Carlo DeMaria" paid for those advertisements, they could have went to the post office and bought a PO BOX and had them returned there, NOT a City Hall PO BOX. They also could have invested in a phone line or not used phones at all.
It's wrong, and who ever advised him on this did not do him any favors, and the authorities will handle it.
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Reverse 911
