In the Jungle, the Quiet Jungle, the Mayor Sleeps Tonight

The Scene wants to know (and I do, too): in the midst of all of this Election Commission laptop controversy, why didn't Mayor Karl Dean's office just advise the press that he was on vacation in Africa, but that he was keeping up with the fallout instead of acting like the word of his family trip would look like he wasn't being attentive? I had wondered myself where the Mayor was during this time, but I wouldn't have given a second thought to news that he was out of the country on a personal trip. That happens. But the way Press Secretary Janel Lacey seems to be handling the details--evading questions and calling editors instead--makes the Mayor's absence look more curious than most vacations are.