City haul

by Yvonne Abraham

"We make no effort whatsoever to pursue or chase city workers to buy tickets or come to functions," says Menino campaign finance chief Joe Maher. Doing so would be illegal, although city workers who have contributed in the past are on the campaign's mailing list. Maher says the campaign tries to keep donations from any one city worker below $200.

City employees may not make huge individual contributions to the mayor's campaign funds, but what they lack in largesse, they make up for in numbers.

Between January 1, 1996, and September 30, 1997, 1695 City Hall workers contributed $125,650 to the Menino Committee. That means city workers accounted for 9.4 percent of all receipts.

Of those donations, 212 gifts, totaling $10,600, came after July 1, 1997, when it became all but official that Menino would run unopposed.

That's a lot of loyalty.

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Yvonne Abraham can be reached at yabraham[a]phx.com.

Kate Cunningham provided research assistance on this article.