MAYORAL CONUNDRUM

We've covered Intimigate since the scandal first broke. Now, we are beginning to question whether the events happened.

It's not one particular thing. It's not a statement or anything Regan has said in interviews. No, it's an exercise in logic and frankly, her story doesn't stand up.

Here it goes:

When the allegations initially arose, Mayor Tutunjian remained silent. In fact, they were just about to issue an Amber Alert and place his face and vital statistics on a milk carton when he finally went on record. What was he doing during the first week or so, as scandal erupted around him? Like any good Mayor, with the highest of ethical standards, he must have made inquiries.

Tutunjian finally went on record on April 4, 2007:

...many speakers criticized Tutunjian for remaining silent. Wednesday night Tutunjian reluctantly said he was concerned with the allegations because they are "baseless." - The Record, April 5, 2007.

Exactly what was the basis for this baselessness? Obviously, phone records would establish that no hard-to-explain, long distance, subscriber service phone calls were made from City Hall in the last week of October or first week of November, 2005. So, Mayor Tutunjian, eager to exonerate his own high level officials, obtained phone records that became the basis for the baselessness.

But no. We no that's not true. On April 2, he tells The Record:

A FOIL denied

This paper requested records of all phone calls made from Crawley's office for the time in question. It was, not surprisingly, denied. The reason: "Your request has been denied as no records exist in the city of Troy for the above request," according to the response by the city.

Hmmm. The basis of the baselessness could not be phone records because "no records exist...." And we know that the city always responds to all legitimate FOIL requests.

So, the fact that the Mayor characterized the allegations as "baseless" leads us to the only possible conclusion. The Mayor confronted the three individuals named in Regan's affidavit. After all, they do work for him and the week-plus delay is likely attributed to the Mayor's inability to get an immediate appointment with the DPW Commissioner. Presumably, the Mayor interviewed each person separately.

We have numerous denials from DPW Commissioner Robert Mirch. The disgruntled former Democrat has gone on record (and television) denying the allegations. Since Mirch has denied it, logic dictates that Mr. Crawley and Mr. Buell also denied the allegations (how could the Mayor have a baselessness basis unless all three denied the allegations?).

Now, the Mayor can finally go on record and deny the allegations. Why? Well, his three employees have denied the allegations. They would not lie to their boss because they realize the consequences of making their boss look weak(er). A mayor must have confidence in his high-level staffers. If high-level staffers lie to their boss....well, lets just say no mayor can afford to look that impotent.

Thus, we arrive at our conclusion that Ms. Regan's affidavit has serious credibility problems when stacked against the Mayor's strong, unambiguous denial.

It's just a theory.

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