Have an example of intimidation by city officials?
The following letter ran in The Quincy Sun on November 7, 2024. Please see the last paragraph to find out how to report examples of intimidation by city officials.
Mayor, Sun Should Apologize for IDing Raise Critic
The Oct. 31 Sun included an interview with the mayor in which he identified the name and street of a constituent who had participated in a summer petition effort to repeal the mayor’s and council’s 79 and 50% pay raises.
The mayor pointed out that the city had rebuilt the resident’s street and had temporarily housed some folks in the neighborhood after a catastrophic flood in 2018. “We went in as a city and did everything for those people,” the mayor said.
The fact that the resident (and presumably his neighbors) accepted this help without the funding being put to a popular vote – as many residents wanted the pay raises to be – struck the mayor as unfair. “So it’s okay when it works in his favor,” he complained.
Before naming the resident and his street, the mayor made it clear he wanted them published: “I don’t mind going on the record on this.” But the Sun should have minded. “Private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than public figures,” reads the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics. “Weigh the consequences of publishing personal information.”
The mayor is a public figure; the resident he named is not. Publishing the name and home street of a private citizen who criticized the mayor is not in the public’s best interest – and worse, it could endanger the citizen who dared to speak truth to power. The mayor and the Sun owe this citizen an apology for putting him and his family at risk.
By naming and shaming a constituent who spoke out against his official actions – actions that the same Sun article revealed had triggered an inquiry by the State Ethics Commission, the mayor proved that he is willing to go after his critics.
That could discourage residents from expressing their true views to those in power. A Just Quincy saw that phenomenon in action this summer during our salary repeal petition drive, which ultimately fell short of the required signatures for a binding repeal. We decided to hold onto the signed forms instead of turning them over to the city because so many residents feared that signing could lead to retaliation. Now the mayor has proven them right.
We’d like to gauge the extent of such abuses of power, so please reach out to info@ajustquincy.com, @ajustquincy.18 on Signal, or 6176691832 on WhatsApp with any examples.
Maggie McKee
Executive committee member
A Just Quincy
