Direct to the masses from a quaint fishing village

How do we keep him down on the fish farm,
Now that he's been seen in the Combat Zone and at Fenway?

Local blogger and website administrator Miguel Borges has made it to the pages of the Boston Globe. The story which basically looks into the number of blogs and websites popping up dedicated to the mayor of Boston, describes Rupert as a quaint fishing village (one with internet access we might add!) and takes a peek at what Borges features on his site. With lots of competition for the attention of those interested in the happenings of a Mayor named Menino, his local portal to the world, Menino.com has attracted a bit of attention.

His site, taken from a childhood nickname, has nothing to do with the current Mayor of Boston. Though he's no doubt found a few new visitors due to the interest in everything Menino.

Menino the person, is a fellow apparently under a bit of a heat over the normal range of Big City political issues. Good news for the local site, as the site has become rather popular with the folks in the shadow of the Prudential tower and those surfing in the Common. And while the local Menino site may be a hit, it's namesake in the Big City isn't. Which translates into some good traffic for the local portal.

We wonder if a book and movie deal can be far away now? Who would play Mr. Borges in any Hollywood interpretation of Menino.com?

According to the story in the Globe, Borges still receives a few e mails a week now, none of which say the mayor is doing a great job. Which could explain why nobody in the Mayors office is in a hurry to try and get the name of the local blog changed.

No news is good news in politics, if the negative comments end up lost in the ether of a quaint fishing village in Northern BC, so much the better. One less thing to tell the Mayor about.

For the sake of posterity (and for when the link above dies off) we provide the story below.

In a wired world, Menino's image takes a beating
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
September 5, 2006

From a quaint fishing village in British Columbia known as the gateway to Alaska, Miguel Borges blogs about local regattas, shopping with his children, and the mileage on his car.

So he was a bit confused when he repeatedly got e-mails complaining about the Big Dig traffic, violence in Boston, and insults flung at him saying ``You crook" or ``You can't speak straight."

The name of his website -- menino.com, a reference to a childhood nickname -- might be the reason.

``Somebody said I mumbled a lot, which I thought was funny because I do mumble," said Borges, 34, a technology coordinator for the Prince Rupert School District 52 who has never been to Boston.

But even if the e-mails had been directed at Mayor Thomas M. Menino , the mayor probably would not have responded: He derides e-mail as an invention that takes away from face-to-face conversation.

While Menino has advocated using technology to appeal to constituents -- supporting a new city-run podcast, updating the city's website, and laying groundwork for a wireless Internet system -- he seems unaware of the various webpages with his name operating online.

And in an age when politicians are increasingly aware of crafting well-refined online images -- even going to lengths to comb out embarrassing details on such sites as Wikipedia -- it doesn't appear that Menino has anyone looking after his image.

And it's starting to get out of hand.

``I can't sit there and worry about what's on the webpage or what they're doing," Menino said. ``That's not my bag."

There are at least three spoof pages on MySpace.com that deride Menino, including one that repeatedly refers to him as Mumbles Menino and has his body type listed as ``some extra baggage." Another listed the person he would like to meet as ``a good speech pathologist."

On Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia in which users can alter entries, the phrase ``Menino is adored by many in the city as being the `working man's mayor' " was changed in March to ``Among some working people (particularly those of color) controversy surrounds Menino's oversight of the gentrification of many Boston neighborhoods."

Other politicians have spoof websites -- including Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Edward M. Kennedy -- but few are as mean-spirited as Menino's.

The MySpace pages, which can be set up by anyone and are loosely regulated, frequently play on Menino's reputation for slurring his speech.

At the top of one of the pages, it says, ``Hi, I'm Tom Menino . . . dee uh first non-Irish Mayoruh dee uh cityuh Posston Mazzuhchewsits."

Under interests, it lists ``doing pub crawls around Boston with my buddy Ted Kennedy."

There are 118 ``friends" listed on the page, including Romney, Kennedy, Hazel Mae , Paul Pierce , and Ted Bundy . Sam Adams , Ben Franklin , and Jesus are also considered to be friends of the mayor, as well as a handful of scantily clad women.

When Menino was shown photocopies of the webpage -- because he has no computer in his office and the city's computer software blocks the sites -- he was surprised at some of the content.

``Yeah, I'm a swinger," Menino said. ``Give me a break. I've been married for 40 years." He also pointed out that he doesn't smoke or drink, and doesn't have a favorite television show.

When he got to a photo on his page that depicted Kennedy in lingerie, he said, ``Oh my God. Poor Teddy."

``It's just some person who has nothing else to do with their time," Menino said. ``He gets his chuckles by making fun of myself or other individuals. "

A 20-year-old Boston resident calling himself Andrew said he created the Menino page on MySpace.com about five months ago. He also voted for Menino's opponent, Maura Hennigan, in the last election, he said.

``Just watching him on the news and stuff, it was pretty funny," said Andrew, who declined to provide his last name out of fear that Menino would make his life difficult. ``I thought it would be good for the citizens of Boston, with all the distress and violence. Maybe they need a good laugh about who's running the city."

Meanwhile, Borges is still blogging from Prince Rupert. He gets several e-mails a week, but they've slowed down because he removed his e-mail addresses from the site.

``I never got anything saying, `Hey, great job,' " he said. ``You expect to get some positive e-mails, but there were none that were positive."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.