Jen Myers:October 3rd – “I will not change what I do or how I do it to satisfy those who wish to use my blog as a canard in the continued crusade to taint this Mayor, this Administration and the majority of this City Council. I am incredibly proud of the work I have done on the blog,
Jen Myers:October 7th – Would everybody feel better if I changed the contact info on my blog to reflect my personal email address? No? Didn’t think so
My Blog Link October 3rd – About Room 50
Lowell, Massachusetts (est. 1826), hometown of Jack Kerouac, telephone numbers and Moxie is the fourth largest city in Massachusetts. Visit this blog, written by Jen Myers, aide to Mayor Patrick Murphy, to find out what is going on in the Mill City. Contact Jen at jenmyers@lowellma.gov. Blog post ideas are always welcomed
Today October 10th I noticed that the Mayor’s Press Aide Jen Myers changed her contact information on the Mayor’s /Her “personal” Blog after stating she would not. Wonder why she did it?
About Room 50
Lowell, Massachusetts (est. 1826), hometown of Jack Kerouac, telephone numbers and Moxie is the fourth largest city in Massachusetts. Visit this blog, written by Jen Myers, aide to Mayor Patrick Murphy, to find out what is going on in the Mill City. Contact Jen at jenmyers305@gmail.com. Blog post ideas are always welcomed.
The Mayors attack Letter against the 5 City Councilors over a budget issue is still on the Site which is I believe a clear ethics violation. If that disappears I’d have no qualms with the site. It is an interesting and positive showcase for city activities by the Mayor’s Aide.
I do wonder why the Mayor didn’t Post the attack letter himself on his own BLOG on HIS Website He even has a From the Mayors Office Tab on the Site he could have used or his Facebook Page that he uses to reach his followers.
Unlike Councilor Elliot who shut down his personal site, the Mayor seems to be running many different sites to showcase himself. One under the guise that it isn’t an official city blog when in reality it is and should be,much like the City Manager’s Blog.
Mr. Jack over on LIL seems to think that Councilor Elliot has control over the SUN which is a joke or that I who championed Councilor Murphy for Mayor have taken a different agenda.
My agenda is and always will be MY BLOG – MY View (I changed the tag line to rile Jack which I seemed to have done LMAO) and NO blind loyalty. I disagree with anyone on any day depending on the issue.
Mayor Murphy should remember that under the Plan E Charter which he has sworn to uphold and follow that he is really NO different and has no policy making powers or ability to start initiatives than his fellow Councilors or School Committee members. (Bold Mine)
Section 100. The mayor shall be recognized as the official head of the city for all ceremonial purposes and shall be recognized by the courts for the purpose of serving civil process and by the governor for military purposes. In time of public danger or emergency, as determined by the city council, he may, with its consent, take command of the police, maintain order and enforce the laws; and he shall have all the authority and powers conferred upon mayors by sections eighteen and nineteen of chapter thirty-three. He shall be chairman of the city council and chairman of the school committee. have no power to veto but shall have the same powers as any other member of either such body to vote upon all measures coming before it
Gerry, you have just proved her point.
“Would everybody feel better if I changed the contact info on my blog to reflect my personal email address? No? Didn’t think so”
You, for one, apparently don’t feel better about it.
I’m satisified Joe, I just wish she’d admit why..
My guess is she checked with the Solicitor and was told that if it was indeed a personal blog STOP using the city email..
I still think the Mayor was wrong to Post the letter there and I still think it should be a city blog if she uses the Mayor’s office photo and her title.
Would I be allowed to take a picture of the Council Chamber and rename my BLOG City Council Chamber chatter? I doubt it
Um, actually, of course you would be allowed to! Why not?!?
Where does she state she would not change anything? She said she “will not change what I do or how I do it to satisfy those who wish to use my blog as a canard … .” That means she will not capitulate to pressure from fools and bullies.
Then she wondered aloud, if changing her contact info would satisfy her detractors. Apparently, she had a working crystal ball. She has and you, Gerry, are not satisfied. Just as she predicted.
Although, she likely originally put her lowell.gov addie up to make it more efficient for folks following up on what the learn at Room50; if probably wasn’t the most proper option. Bygones, anyways.
You can badger her until the internet breaks, Gerry. She will follow her conscience and ethical understanding of the terrain she operates in. But, there is an old cliche, “Only a nitwit badgers a honeybadger.”
JACK,
I have come to the conclusion that if patrick murphy or bernie lynch ran away with the city treasury you would say they just want to invest it for us.
The Mayor is wrong to post an ATTACk Letter and his taxpayer paid aide is wrong to claim she is running a personal blog using the picture of the mayor’s office, her title and up until today her work email.
I have ask the State Ethic commission for their opinion and will wait to see what they say.
If no oone cares and its no big deal…Why did she change it?
I’m not so concerned with your conclusions, Gerry, as they are as sturdy as Mitt Romney’s.
You seem to forget that it was C.Elliott that used the cub reporter to attack the Mayor over a subcommittee appointment. The Mayor’s “open letter” rebuff’s the abuse of C.Elliott and the Blog of Record. The boo bird meme, promoted by C.Kennedy, that Murphy was swinging wild is planned to divide the Council. You are aiding and abbetting that effort. Not because you are taking sides, but because they can predict how you will glom onto any skuffle for some hot blog action.
Elliott’s tactics are an embarassment to out City. For you to put Murphy’s calling a spade a spade as an equivalent to what Elliott assaults all of us with, month after month, is beyond understanding. Sometimes sides must be taken. It’s clear who is trying to work forward under our Plan E form with a top notch city manager and who is striving to undermine public confidence in Plan E because they desire a strong Mayor, Plan A form.
JACK,
ARE you that delusional? You really can’t see a difference between a Newspaper story that a councilor in reality has ZERO control over and a Taxpayer funder Press Aide masquerading a City blog as private and allowing her boss to not attack not 1 councilor but 5 Councilors.
I dubbed Lyle the cub reporter and Rodney’s press agent but the fact is neither one has ANY control over what is in the paper, the editor does.
In the case of Room. 50 the Mayor has a direct report who he hired and is paid by the taxpayers to post positive news about his accomplishments and can use it to attack 5 councilors anytime he wishes.
To me that is an ethics conflict. The Blog should be either 100% a City blog and personal attacks NEVER posted there or should be 100% a private blog like ours and have no Picture,Tag line or title related to the Mayors office.
Maybe she was fearful that you’re causing a threat to her job? Reporting her to an Ethics Commission and all.
LOL The answer I got in what appears to be a form letter response was “You have to file a formal complaint we cannot respond otherwise”
Did you really send a letter to the Ethics Commission? Come on Gerry my man.
LOL I sent an emails The answer I got in what appears to be a form letter response was “You have to file a formal complaint we cannot respond otherwise”
I guess I don’t understand the LOL part. Your intent, if I’m reading this correctly, was to report either the Mayor, the Mayor’s Aide, the blog, or a letter that the Mayor wrote and was sent to various local blogs and The Lowell Sun (but apparently not worthy of their ink) to the state ethics commission. Am I correct in assuming that?
If that was your desire, do you now plan to move forward with filing a formal complaint?
I was asking what the ruloes were for a paid city employee using her city email, the photo or the Mayor’s Office and her title in what she claimed was a “personal Blog” and the Mayor’s right to attack 5 fellow Councilors vote on a budget issue.
I posted their response…I haven’t decided if I would pursue it or not…she has taken 1 step and removed the email…Thanks for asking
Gerry, I notice that you changed your banner to represent Prince Spaghettiville. Does this make you the official spokesperson for Prince or the Spaghettiville neighborhood? I hope you will choose your words carefully, so as to avoid any confusion between your blog and official messages from Prince or Spaghettiville!
As a resident of Spaghettiville, I take great offense to this. Unless YOU can prove that YOU are a MEMBER of the South Lowell neighborhood and Prince Spaghettiville, then you must remove this banner NOW! Otherwise this is a false misrepresentation of the Spaghettiville Community and grounds for me crying to some commission over it.
Signed,
Southie Lowellie
Lifelong Prince Spaghettiville Resident
A couple of you people are blitherin’ . Gerry is not the only one who got the impression that the blog was an official one directly from City Hall and the Mayor. Now we have beem told that was not the intent- but several people I know thought it was “official”. ( and a couple still do) . I would advise Ms Myers to change the appearance of the blog to more reflect it’s origin. As a taxpayer , I do not want to see an “official” blog that posts derogatory comments about city officials- wjerther I lie said officials , or not.
And Gerry – I love the pix you are posting. Where do you find them?<
The first one of the Old Train station was frpm a photo of my Uncle Jack QUinn’s body being brought home from WWII for Burial and the Prince Sign was a google search
Puh-leeze! There are only several official sites related to the city, and they are all listed on the city and school websites. Just because someone snaps a photo within city hall doesn’t mean it is an official site from city hall, anymore than googling a picture of prince spaghettiville and loading that onto your blog makes your blog the official blog for prince or speghettiville. No offense to anyone, but please stop making a mountain out of a molehill.
I could tell from the beginning that it wasn’t a city blog. So I went ahead and polled my friends and neighbors, and they all knew it wasn’t a city blog as well. So we don’t want it to change. This is a tough one. Who will win?
As a taxpayer, I don’t want to listen to self fulfilling rants on my tax dollar supported public access channel by my tax dollar supported city councilors who at my tax dollar supported meetings, are picking fights left and right like sore losers, wasting valuable time that could be better served on real issues this city faces. Cursive writing, and “you hurt this one’s feelings so apologize”. Glorious use of time!