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MassGOP blasts Wu's holiday party spending: 'Blatant disregard for public finance rules'

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on

Published in News & Features

BOSTON — The state Republican Party is calling for an investigation into Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s “clear-cut violation” of public finance rules in mixing campaign funds and City Hall resources for a private “electeds of color” holiday party.

The mayor’s office, however, vehemently denied assertions of wrongdoing in the matter, saying that the event was not a fundraiser and was paid for, as allowed, by campaign and political finance law.

The MassGOP cited a public records request initiated by the Boston Herald, which revealed a series of emails showing that while the mayor used campaign funds to pay for last year’s exclusive holiday party, city resources were also used. Officials from her administration were responsible for planning the event, which was held at the city-owned Parkman House.

A so-called comingling of public and campaign funds for the Dec. 13 event — which caught national attention after the Herald first reported an email from a City Hall staffer that invited, then later disinvited white members of the Boston City Council — “appears to be a clear-cut violation of Office of Campaign and Political Finance regulations,” the MassGOP said in a Wednesday statement.

The party further explained that campaign finance regulations prohibit elected officials from leveraging public resources for campaign endeavors, which, it asserts, the holiday party became when the mayor opted to dip into her $1.4 million campaign war chest to pay the tab.

“The public records request revealed that the mayor’s ‘electeds of color’ event was funded through her campaign account, thereby making the event itself a campaign event,” MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale said in a statement. “The undisputed fact that Boston City Hall staff were actively involved in promoting this event during work hours is a clear violation of OCPF rules.

 

“Taxpayers deserve to know how often members of the mayor’s staff are working on behalf of Mayor Wu’s self-interests,” she added. “The discovery begs the question of whether there are other instances of violations. The mayor’s blatant disregard for public finance rules warrants an investigation into her actions.”

A longtime political consultant who requested anonymity was not as convinced, however, stating, “I think this is fine. It feels equivalent to state legislators using campaign funds for food during budget week.”

The Herald reported the public records released by the city Wednesday, along with more than $17,000 in holiday party-related campaign expenditures listed on her OCPF account between November, when City Hall staffers began planning the “electeds of color” event, and December, when it was held.

More than 500 pages of emails revealed that the mayor’s intergovernmental relations department, which sent the mistaken invite email that went viral, helped to plan the event — largely discussing food, invites and scheduling — during work hours using official city email accounts, which one city watchdog says is where the problem lies.

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