The ultimate dead-end job
Double lame duck Janey will soon be one of the departed
Think you’ve got a deadend job?
Just imagine how Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey must feel.
Janey is wrapping up one of the shortest terms ever for a Boston mayor. She’ll soon be a footnote in history next to former Acting Gov. Jane Swift.
Janey’s not even a lame duck — she’s actually worse than a lame duck because she doesn’t even have a term to wrap up. She’s gone after Nov. 16. And after that, until the year wraps up, she’ll be a lame duck councilor. She’s a double lame duck.
While many people have a job they don’t like, Janey actually desperately wanted to keep hers — but unfortunately she came in fourth in the preliminary election, leaving her out of the final.
Your job may be unfulfilling and not very lucrative, but not Janey’s. She has a pretty great, well-paying gig, as long as you don’t mind taking the credit or blame for everything that happens under your watch.
Here’s what Janey will lose in a matter of weeks:
Her $200,000 a year salary. And come January she’ll lose her $100,000-a-year city councilor salary.
Her police chauffeur and her big police SUV. It’s back to driving herself around town, in a car without blue lights and a siren. What a comedown.
The palatial, fifth floor mayor’s office, which has a nice view of Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market.
A private bathroom in the mayor’s office, complete with a shower.
The private elevator, which can take Janey outside behind City Hall in case she wants to make a quick getaway from nosy reporters.
The title of mayor, which Janey relished — refusing to be called what she really is, the acting mayor.
The title of councilor and her other fifth floor office. Pretty soon no one will call her mayor or even acting mayor — or councilor for that matter. She’s just a private citizen like the rest of us.
All those highly paid aides and appointees, like the out-of-town coronavirus czar, who served under Janey. They are on thin ice, because the new mayor is likely to bring in her own team. Time to update those LinkedIn profiles.
That $20,000 a month contract with her political consultant, Doug Rubin. He was well worth the money, don’t you think? Janey should ask for a refund and see whether the attorney general’s consumer protection division can help her.
The ability to command attention at a moment’s notice. Her press conferences will be sparsely attended, to say the least. And her supporters are still waiting for her to show up to her election night party.
No more fawning pieces in the local media. Time to cancel that Globe subscription.
And no more of those softball “Mondays with the Mayor” interviews on public radio.
Those special Mayor Kim Janey pencils she handed out to school children. Maybe the kids can scratch out “Mayor.” Throw them in the pile with all the “Office of the Mayor” stationary.
No more being asked about her favorite Dunkin order or her favorite movies, though she could land a part in “The Departed.”
And those well-worn Converse sneakers? They’re already out of style, so maybe it’s time to turn them in and replace them with slippers, which she can wear around the house.