• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

OLYMPIC RECORDS

Written by EMILY HOPKINS Posted March 10, 2015 Filed Under: COLUMNS, Free Radical, NEWS+OPINIONS

FREE RAD HED

Walsh calls for transparency while his office stays tightlipped … 

 

A few weeks before the announcement that Boston was chosen to represent the United States Olympic Committee in its bid for the 2024 Games, I filed a public records request for emails that had been sent to or by Mayor Marty Walsh that contained certain relevant keywords. I followed up on the request through muckrock.com in December, at one point talking on the phone with a City Hall paralegal who promised that a convenient package, full of several Olympics-related documents, would soon be sent to parties that had filed such requests.

 

When said documents arrived, the emails that I asked for were missing. I then continued to check up with no response from the mayor’s office, until late last week when I finally received an email with an attachment titled, “Boston2024 emails,” which the administration claimed had been erroneously left out of their earlier message. The 45-­page document appears to be missing several pertinent exchanges; overall it’s also oddly positive, containing a draft of Walsh’s speech to the USOC, and an exchange with a woman who kissed municipal ass for months to get a taste of some Olympics details.

 

Fast-forward to earlier this week, when Walsh called on Boston 2024 to release salary information for its staff and consultants, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick among them. Organizers complied within hours, but the hundreds of thousands of dollars being paid to people trying to bring the Olympics to Boston is no surprise. Considering the response, or lack thereof, to my request, the release of salary info seems like the bare minimum, not a commitment to some alleged standard of transparency. The news was similar to all those public meetings lately: great for lip service, and little else.

 

EMILY HOPKINS
+ posts
    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: COLUMNS, Free Radical, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Boston 2024, Boston Olympics, Deval Patrick, emails, Emily Hopkins, FOIA, Hillary Clinton, IOC, mayor Marty Walsh, MuckRock, organizers, salaries, transparency, USOC

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Advocates Push For 'Tax Fairness' With Expanded Child Tax Credits

State Wire: Advocates Push For ‘Tax Fairness’ With Expanded Child Tax Credits

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”
  • Over Yondr: Are Cell Phone Pouches At Shows Liberating, Dangerous, Or Annoying?
  • Deep Cuts Brings Sandwiches, Craft Beer, And Live Music To Medford
  • Daring Greatly: TikTok Star Alden McWayne (aka Gucci Pineapple) On Scheming And Dreaming
  • Dead As Ever: Meet The Rising Dark Star Of Boston’s Jam Band Scene

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com