Deleted files Fortucci hearing focus

LYNN – Testimony from Tuesday’s disciplinary hearing for Chief Financial Officer Richard Fortucci resembled an Agatha Christie mystery.One of the most repeated questions concerned the complete wiping out of six computer hard drives in the office of former mayor Edward Clancy Jr. When did it happen? Who did it? And more importantly, who authorized it?When Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy took office in January 2010, she soon learned the mayoral office files had been destroyed. She immediately ordered all administrative passwords rescinded, but at least one City Hall employee’s computer network access went undetected.Questions by councilors were aimed at trying to find out if the holder of that password was responsible for hacking into the system to destroy what could have been emails implicating Clancy in election-time skullduggery, based on Tuesday’s testimony.According to the mayor’s testimony, Fortucci claimed the hard drives had been inadvertently deleted. “It takes a lot of effort to wipe out a hard drive – inadvertently,” she said.Fortucci testified that two of his technicians in the information technology (IT) Department at City Hall wiped the drives clean.Under the city charter, the chief financial officer is responsible for data processing, or what today is commonly called IT. Fortucci is responsible for supervising the two IT employees.Claire Cavanagh, the mayor’s chief of staff, swore a similar account. She recalled Fortucci saying the IT Department “is aware the entire mayor’s hard drive was inadvertently deleted.”Asked if he knew who gave the order, Fortucci said, “It was definitely not me.”Fortucci added, “I was quite shocked when I heard it. I certainly don’t condone that kind of activity.”Documents compiled in an exhibit file at the hearing include copies of emails related to the IT issue. Mayor Kennedy said one mayoral document created by the Clancy administration in October 2009 was erased from the network server on Jan. 11, 2010.When Fortucci insisted he had no knowledge of that incident, Kennedy said she could not depend on him to oversee the IT Department. She described the incident as a security breach that required a solution. The mayor then hired Ken Weeks as a par-time IT consultant.Weeks testified Tuesday that the IT system was in shambles, with no policies or procedures in place. The IT staff was completely without guidance, he said.Fortucci stands accused by the mayor of 16 different acts of wrongdoing, negligence or incompetence. The mayor contends he jeopardized federal police and fire grants, botched payrolls, drove up the cost of worker’s compensation cases, and basically failed to perform the duties of a CFO.Six of those issues were deliberated at the Feb. 8 public hearing before the City Council. The seventh issue, marking the start of Tuesday’s continued hearing, was discussed until past 10 p.m. and no sign was offered that the proceedings would be completed.At press time, the councilors had moved on to issue No. 8.Meanwhile, Fortucci remains suspended with pay and serves only as city treasurer. Six council votes are required to remove him as CFO.