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ANNALS OF SURVEILLANCE
Whence the Maura Cam?
BY ADAM REILLY
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A few months ago, a small, unobtrusive video camera materialized outside the office of at-large Boston city councilor Maura Hennigan, who is challenging Mayor Tom Menino in this year’s mayoral election. Judging from its angle, the camera offers a clear shot of Hennigan’s doorway — and presumably, of any individual who might happen to pay her a visit. Is something fishy afoot? Hennigan won’t say Menino is keeping tabs on her. But she will hint at it. "I would assume they would have cameras in the building as [people] came in," Hennigan says. "I guess I’m kind of curious why you would need cameras on individual floors. I don’t know if there’s a plan involving the cameras, or if it’s just kind of an excuse to keep an eye on people." According to Michael Galvin, Boston’s chief of basic city services, Hennigan’s suspicion is misplaced. There are two cameras in the City Council wing of City Hall; the other monitors the area where eight of the council’s 13 members sit and, unlike the Maura Cam, faces the hallway outside rather than a particular councilor’s office. Despite this discrepancy, Galvin says both cameras were installed after two laptops were stolen from a staff office late last year. "There’s no way we would ever condone that," Galvin says of the surveillance scenario. "People know we do the right thing here [in city services] — we’re never political in the building. If it’s right for the building, we do it." For her part, Hennigan admits that she never pressed Galvin or anyone else for an official explanation of her camera’s installation. Why not? Maybe because the Maura Cam — whatever its raison d’être — fits nicely into the David-versus-Goliath script Hennigan has embraced for her mayoral campaign. "To be honest with you, I’ve got a lot of things I gotta do," Hennigan says. "I wouldn’t say it’s first on my list, as far as worrying whether the mayor is looking into our office to see what we’re doing.... Most of my stuff I’m doing, I’m out in the neighborhoods. It kind of baffles me that it’s directed at me. I think it’s kind of silly."
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