When it comes to secrecy, it’s hard to match Dick Cheney, but Rudy Giuliani is certainly in the same league.
When a mayor of New York leaves office, little goes out the door but memories — unless he’s Rudy Giuliani. Government rules discourage the city’s most powerful officeholder from departing with more than token gifts collected on the job.
Ed Koch, mayor from 1978 to 1989, recalls keeping some neckties. His successor, David Dinkins, walked away with knickknacks from his desk, including a crystal tennis ball and a collection of photographs documenting his meetings with celebrities and business icons.
When Giuliani stepped down, he needed a warehouse. Under an unprecedented agreement that didn’t become public until after he left office, Giuliani secreted out of City Hall the written, photographic and electronic record of his eight years in office — more than 2,000 boxes. (emphasis added)
At a recent debate, Giuliani boasted that his mayoral administration reached the pinnacle of transparency: “I can’t think of a public figure that’s had a more transparent life than I’ve had.”
The reality, of course, is the complete opposite. He not only left office with thousands of boxes of documents Giuliani didn’t want to go public, but he also quietly secured the materials of his deputy mayors, his chief of staff, his travel office and his official residence. While in office, Giuliani sought to limit public access to information on such mundane matters as working water fountains in city parks and the city’s recycling program.
The campaign responded to all of this, calling questions about Giuliani’s penchant for secrecy “nitpicking.” He wasn't kidding.
