The Menino Machine Marches On

Menino is certainly a master of city machine politics.

The Globe reports:

Payroll records show that 187 city workers, including the heads of Property Management and of Consumer Affairs and Licensing, plus most of the Neighborhood Services department, took a one-day vacation on May 3, a Tuesday and the first day to gather signatures for the mayor's race. Ditto for 30 employees at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission....

''Those who are there want to be there," said Janine Coppola, who spent most of May 3 canvassing in the North End.

For her part, Coppola said there wasn't anywhere else she'd rather be vacationing. ''We have a good mayor," she said. ''I want to make sure I do my part to keep a good mayor in office."

Some departments were affected more than others. Nine of 24 employees in the mayor's office were out. Four of the eight employees of the Small & Local Business Enterprise Office, including its director, took vacation, while one of two employees of the Women's Commission was gone. Seventeen of 22 employees at the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services took vacation time.

The city's director of Human Resources said every employee is entitled to take earned vacation days with the approval of their manager or department head, who are required to keep sufficient staff in the offices. ''To my knowledge, no city services were affected," Vivian Leonard said.

Guess those neighborhood services aren't really needed.