City Hall Emails

I haven't commented much about the vanishing City Hall email story, because frankly I've been busy with too many things. Seriously, could there be any more major political offices up for grabs in the area? (Speaking of which, can we get a little bit of love and attention for tomorrow's mayoral primary in Newton?)

Anyway, I'm still not ready to say much yet, but I thought for fun I would dredge up a little something that Colman M. Herman reported in the Spring 2009 issue of CommonWealth magazine.

Herman tested the responsiveness of various government offices by sending queries to the email addresses listed on their web sites. Many did not do well. Boston's agencies really did not do well. And then, Boston's CIO didn't respond to inquiries about why there was no response to the emails. As Herman wrote:

William Oates, Boston’s chief information officer, did not respond to requests for comment on why the mayor and 13 city agencies did not respond to my emails. The non-responders included the city’s Inspectional Services Department, the Public Health Commission, the Consumer Affairs and Licensing Office, and the Boston Police Department.