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Jim Kenney trades off-color tweets with city employee

Councilman Jim Kenney, as you may have read in the Daily News this month, is paying the Center City-based firm ChatterBlast about $28,800 per year to handle some of his Twitter duties and other social-media stuff.

Councilman Jim Kenney, as you may have read in the Daily News this month, is paying the Center City-based firm ChatterBlast about $28,800 per year to handle some of his Twitter duties and other social-media stuff.

But when it comes to the Flyers, the at-large Democrat personally takes the helm of his Twitter account, as evidenced by Sunday's exchange with "The Moleman," who used the Twitter handle @conzmoleman. The Moleman tweeted that Kenney should "Go f*** yourself. Or hire a firm to do so" in response to a Kenney tweet about Jaromír Jágr.

Kenney, who tells us he was watching the game at Misconduct Tavern, returned fire.

"I am 53 and u are a very large a******," Kenney tweeted to The Moleman, who had called him 57 years old. Then Kenney went back for more: "By the way d***, I am in CC if you want to tell me sumpin," he tweeted.

For the record, The Moleman told us he now has deep, new-found respect for Kenney. He'd thought his tweet would be fielded by ChatterBlast, not the councilman himself.

Maybe this is a good place to note that The Moleman works for the City of Philadelphia.  And he's worried now about losing his job.  He deleted his Twitter account this afternoon after being contacted by the Daily News.  "If the bosses see this, nobody's going to be happy," The Moleman told us.

"At first, I assumed it was not him, which is why I tweeted," explained The Moleman, a 20-something who has worked for the city since 2007. "I was pleasantly surprised to see it was him. I actually really thought highly of his response. I was being a very large a—hole, as he said."

"I thought it was hilarious," he added. "Knowing nothing about Mr. Kenney, I really like him now for responding the way he did."

Kenney stands by the exchange, but said he might tone it down in the future.

"He told me to go f- myself. Being called an a—hole is an appropriate response," Kenney said this afternoon. "I didn't rise to the level of an f-bomb."

"He called me 57, and I'm 53. That was insulting enough," Kenney added. "But my consultants have told me I should refrain from using curse words."

From now on, Kenney said, he'll use the proper medical terminology when dealing with Twitter hecklers.