Mayor Brown's Office Says "Define Coercive..."

One of Mayor Byron Brown's people is in trouble or so it seems for sending what she claims were not coercive emails to underlings exhorting them to donate 8 hours per week on the mayor's reelection campaign.

“Your services are needed minimally 8 hours per week,” Tanya Perrin-Johnson wrote in a June 2 e-mail sent to 20 employees. And not just at a time of their choosing. Perrin-Johnson specified a four-hour shift during the week—preferably Tuesdays, which is the department’s night at campaign headquarters — and another four hours on the weekend.
Perrin-Johnson said in her e-mail that “everyone is expected to be at the Headquarters after work” the following Tuesday because it was the first day that nominating petitions could be circulated for signatures...If employees cannot work on the campaign on Tuesday or on a weekend, Perrin-Johnson wrote, “please notify myself and Dana Bobinchek at the email above and accommodations will be made for you to make up the time during the week.” With no sign of tongue buried in his cheek, Peter Cutler, Brown's spokesman added his two cents (and certainly his 8 hours minimum) saying he didn’t see a problem because the e-mails were sent and received through private accounts. “Is there a coercive nature to these? I would say no,” Cutler said. “There’s no threat; I didn’t hear ‘Be there or else’ or ‘Your job is dependent on it,’ ” he said. Funny Pete that's exactly what I heard. Ms. Perrin-Johnson weighed in with more bizarre verbiage answering Buffalo news reporters thusly : Why did she send the e-mails? “I believe in the mayor and what the mayor has done for the city,” Perrin-Johnson said. What about employees who feel coerced? “They shouldn’t feel coerced,” she said. “People have a choice if they want to volunteer.” Exactly girlfriend, says right here if they don't volunteer they can email her and another boss and make up the time during the week somehow. Peter, Tanya, please. As the t-shirt says, this is Buffalo : City of No Illusions. Stop trying to bullshit us.

Her belief in the mayor is reminiscent of a certain justice system employee who tried to tell congress that she swore an oath to the president only to have it explained to her by Senator Leahy that her oath was to the U.S. Constitution, not to any individual. If Tanya Perrin-Johnson believed in Tom Golisano could she reasonably instruct everyone to wear curly white wigs and Sabre's throwback jerseys to work each day too ? Luckily for her this is the city where your pastor or your membership in the right sorority usually exempts you from the unsavory consequences of bullying underlings, lying, stealing and/or mismanaging funds. Make it 12 hours now that one of you talked to the News !