Kineavy Goes Leave-y: Menino Aide Steps Down

Seems the ol' second computer trick didn't quite do it. Pressed by the Secretary of State to turn over email records, Mayor Tom Menino's chief of policy, Michael Kineavy, is taking a leave until the mystery of the "missing" (er, deleted) emails can be solved. Resignations always look suspiciously like admissions of guilt, but Menino claims his staffers are being "forthright" and cooperative on the issue; we can only assume that by "forthright" he means "bumbling and incompetent." At this point, though, the issue is not about cooperation--it's about whether Kineavy broke the law. This may be a lame comparison, but you can still get a ticket for speeding even if you didn't realize how fast you were going.

So too should Menino's office be prosecuted for breaking the law, regardless of intent, if the records laws are found to have been violated. Ignorance is no excuse, particularly not for public officials. And one might even wonder whether an administration incapable of following laws deserves to be voted in again. MassMarrier has more (via UHub).