Mayor apologizes on behalf of press secretary
Mayor Nutter this morning issued an apology to Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky after she wrote a column questioning why his Press Secretary Mark McDonald wrote a tweet that appeared to question the ethics of her reporting on the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
Mayor apologizes on behalf of press secretary
Catherine Lucey
Mayor Nutter this morning issued an apology to Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky after she wrote a column questioning why his Press Secretary Mark McDonald wrote a tweet that appeared to question the ethics of her reporting on the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
“I want to apologize to Ronnie, who I know, about what was sent out,” Nutter said. “It was inappropriate. I want to apologize directly and on behalf of our city government.”
In her column today, Polaneczky wrote that after a critical report on the Parking Authority, McDonald, who tweets as @PhillyPressSec, put up a tweet that said: “If reporter has let's say 150 agency violations, do you disclose that as you time after time pound said agency with your commentary?”
Polaneczky reports that she and her husband have incurred 215 tickets in the past 16 years, but that they are paid in full. Nutter today stressed that McDonald had not gotten access to any private parking records, but was just repeating rumor.
“It is not our policy to share or continue to move around rumors,” Nutter said. “I think it was a mistake. Mark is well aware of that.”
Nutter said that no further investigation or discipline was planned and that McDonald will remain in his position.
“Mark is a very hard working, committed public servant,” Nutter said. “Having the kind of conversation we had, will be punishment enough. He will continue to do his job.”
Comments (37)
Ballsy move Mike. Would have been more ballsy to have your Press Secretary make the apology, while wearing a muzzle of course.— manyhats
Comment removed.- Nothing will change until there is a Republican or Independent Party in Philadephia.— Michael T. Welsh
- Mark sums up what is wrong with Philly gov't - deflecting attention away from dealing with the issues.— main liner
Then there's that Nutter flunkie - now moved on - who spread the rumor that the Jewish Community had been offended by the use of the word "Christmas" in a sign.
It didn't take long for several Columnists - who happened to be Jewish - to debunk the rumor and express the Joy and pleasure they receive each through Christmas songs and decorations.
Mr Mayor, who hires these nuts?
- If the Street admin had done this, Councilman Nutter would have been there to take up the cause of the media and get the flack fired. We would have known about this because Reporter Mark McDonald would have glowingly covered the courageous move by the holier-than-thou councilman.
Oh, how the times have changed. Nutter has now fully returned the favor of McDonald keeping quiet about the mayor's extracurricular activities at bowling alleys and on 2 AM trips home "from the office."— JessieB - At the end of the day, you have to love Nutter. Reporters, especially for this paper, can be jerks. The press secretery however, does not have freedom of speech. As George Carlin said: you have freedom of speeach until someone gets offended.— boroughboy
- Comment removed.
- Jim Kenney must be laughing today!— Lancer248
- And Nutter's apology for 5 years of gross mismanagement????????— InquiringMindz
- Sounds like a future episode of that stupid show "Parking Wars"— NYC sucks
- I think the guy had a point. Clearly the columnist has a problem following the parking rules. This is a conflict of interest as great as the more typical ones.— sal_acid
- Hey Mr. Mayor: The guy should be fired. It isn't hard to read between the lines and understand that your cronie did in fact pry into public records. You can try to cover him now, but your administration has become a complete facist farce. Who will trust you now? Who is going to speak out and feel comfortable that one of your other boot lickers won't pry into other public records in attempts to publicly embarass them. From backstabbing protestors to strongarming a local news station about releasing video of you with someone not your wife at a late night bowling excursion, to this lastest moronic behavior. I'd use that classy "A" word that you seem to like to use in front of a camera to act tough to decscribe your press secretary. There should be a criminal investigation. How disgraceful and shameful to treat your citizens as such. And this guy tweeted about ETHICS!? Oh the hypocrisy! "Absolute power corrupts absolutely"....You are a joke Mr. Mayor. Is your press secretary going to come after me now?— wilcowaits
- Having lived and/or worked in Philadelphia, mostly Center City, for most of my adult life, I managed to be cited about twice for parking violations over about 30 years. By accumulating over 200, Ms Polaneczky has shown a disregard for the law, as well as for her fellow citizens who were no doubt inconvenienced by her illegally parked vehicles on many occasions. While I do not condone the manner in which we were made aware of her behavior, I agree with Mr. McDonald that it is somewhat inappropriate for her to conduct a crusade against the parking authority, and I am glad to have been made aware of her flaunting of our laws. If it weren't for people like her, parking and driving in Philadelphia would be far less difficult than it is.— Charles B
- A lot of people could probably avoid parking tickets if they'd only put out the money for Valet Parking at restaurants - then again, it's probably not a totally risk-free service.
215 tickets in 16 years comes out to a little more than 13 a year. So, as much as McDonald is a tool, maybe we should ask why Polaneczky keeps getting tickets?— Wyatt9- Comment removed.
- McDonalds title is the official liar for Nutter and his corrupt policies, where does Nutter get off issuing an apology for this creep, come forward McDONALD and issue an apology to this woman and her family!!! Oh and by the way Ive never HAD AN ISSUE WITH THE PARKING AUTHORITY,BUT I CAN TELL YOU AS A LIFELONG RESIDENT OF THIS CITY, THE PHILA PARKING AUTHORITY IS ONLY THERE TO GENERATE REVENUE FOR THIS CORRUPT CITY, AND WILL GO TO UNUSUAL LEVELS TO ACCOMPLISH THAT,— JAMMER27
- I am positive that McDonald did not access Ms. Polaneczky's parking ticket information- he is not that stupid. What is more likely true is that someone at PPA got a glance and then shared the information with McDonald. So no investigation of McDonald will turn up anything. McDonald is just following orders of the PPA here.— MrHumphries
- I am a fan of Ronnie's work, but I think one of the things missing in this discussion is her egregious and apparent long history of incurring parking tickets. Yes, it is nice that she paid them, but it is not inappropriate to suggest she is biased against the parking authority that has issued her hundreds of tickets costing her thousands of dollars. If MacDonald questioned her ethics, that's wrong. But it would be fair to question whether she's biased. Ethics and bias are two different things.— bill1234567
- If Ronnie would learn how/where to park, it wouldn't be an issue.
- What if there is nowhere to park?
I don't think it IS an issue, considering she simply pays her tickets and gets on with life. It's been MADE an issue and not by her.
Is it REALLY this hard or complex to understand who did what, who's angry/defensive and that details such as her paying her tickets have NO bearing on her reporting on behalf of others who have PPA wars? Is it, really that complex??? Tell me it isn't. Ronnie doesn't have a dog in this race, but she's ASSISTING those who do.
— 215PhillySean - So, were there any inaccuracies in her stories? That doesn't seem to be an issue.— phillyguy36
- It's only a matter of time before the Holy Father's surrogates in Rome leak Ms Polaneczky's "Permanent Record" of sins - both "venial" and "mortal" - to explain her many diatribes against the Vatican on these pages.
- This is a pathetic excuse for a news story-Move on there's nothing to see here!!!!— Dadair1
- The little kiddie taunted the neighbor kid then ran to hide behind daddy's legs.
The former reporter tried to retroactively impose an "off the record" on a conversation already held?
The press secretary was only repeating rumors, but wouldn't the rumors have to have started at the PPA, with someone illegally checking the records? Or, they started with Ronnie, who disclosed the tickets!
This is another case on Nutter shooting his mouth off when he doesn't know the facts. The only assassination here is the press secretary trying to stain the reputation of a reporter.
The mouthpiece needs to be fired, but old "nutless Mike" is too gutless.
— WizardofBoz - it's hard to figure out who looks like the biggest idiot in all of this. The current reporter, the former reporter, or the mayor who tried to step in...— Yoda117
- Comment removed.
- I like Ronnie BUT 216 tickets qualifies her as anti-social. I'm 64 years old and have driven daily since I've been 16 years old and have NEVER gotten a ticket. Who does she think she is ?— Ichabod Mudd
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- The question now is if Ms. Polaneckzy will be apologizing for accusing Mr. McDonald of breaking the law. I won't hold my breath.— Politburo
- But, she never made that accusation. She never even demanded an apology from McDonald. They OFFERED it, which is strange considering he never confirmed or denied the indirect Tweet was for her. — 215PhillySean
- Lawsuit.— 215PhillySean
- I'm honestly questioning his credentials to be a good Press Secretary. I mean, I could understand if this Tweet was made by somebody at the PPA, or somebday who's last name is synonomous with road, boulevard, and Avenue. But the PRESS secretary, sending cynical quips?— 215PhillySean
- Mayor Nutter "There you go again"— EVanArsdale
- Nutter needs to be voted out. But how realistic is that? Anyone who would run for Mayor needs to first pony up to the scads and less-than-honest (shall we say) people who s/he needs to jump on top of. I shook Nutter's hand and wished him well. Stupid me.— PhillyS1980
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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