Clancy staff cleans house

LYNN – The Clancy administration seemingly adopted a no-file-left-behind policy as it exited City Hall last week, leaving empty drawers and deleted computer databases for incoming Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and her staff.”It was definitely disappointing,” Claire Cavanagh, Kennedy’s chief of staff, said Monday. “Many of the 20-something file draws were completely empty and 90 percent of the computer files were deleted.” According to Cavanagh, the absence of mayoral stationary and paper clips is less problematic than the missing electronic and paper files. “Our biggest problem is tracking down deleted computer files and the many paper files that were also discarded. Ninety percent of the hard copy contracts, payroll registers, proclamations, press releases and other public documents were removed,” she said.Acting on advice of City Solicitor Michael Barry, Kennedy on Dec. 30 sent a certified letter to Clancy, asking that he return the missing public documents.”As we finalized the transition process last week, my staff and I were taken aback to learn that many documents relative to the mayor’s office were not in the office,” Kennedy said Monday. “I requested and received a legal opinion from the city solicitor, who advised me to send a certified letter to the outgoing mayor, requesting the return of these documents.”Cavanagh said all but seven of the 24 file drawers in the mayor’s office had been emptied.”(Clancy) was notified in a nice way,” she added. “We served the letter to him and requested those files be returned within 10 days. Right now we’re waiting for that 10-day period to elapse. We’re hoping his administration will return some of the articles.”Cavanagh said Kennedy staffers were initially stunned by the absence of office supplies and information files. “Did they leave a lot of supplies? No, they didn’t,” she said. “At first glance, we thought there was absolutely nothing, but the next day the staff found a few pens and pencils.”What gets left behind for the incoming administration varies by outgoing mayor, said Cavanagh, who has worked in Lynn city government for nearly four decades. When the late mayor Patrick McManus left office in 2002, only personal items were removed from his City Hall quarters.”When Pat left in 2002, the office was intact. There were no hard feelings and no reason for him to discard anything. Can we eventually get back the public documents that are missing? Of course we can, but it would have been better to have everything in order,” Cavanagh said.”I am hopeful that he will take immediate steps to rectify this situation,” Kennedy said.As part of her staff, Kennedy recently named Mary Chalmers as a full-time executive assistant and Bernice Brooks as a part-time executive assistant.