Maureen Donovan

Anybody who shares a name with an elected official, candidate, or press aide, can sympathize with Maureen Donovan whose last name is one letter off from the very busy press aide to congressman John Sweeney (of the infamous 911 calls).

Here's Donovan's automated response to from Donovan's Yahoo account:

If you are trying to e-mail Maureen Donovan w/info re: political campaigns, news stories, or visits to NYC, you have the wrong Maureen Donovan! From the many e-mails I have received in error, my guess is that this person's e-mail address is "maureenodonovan@yahoo.com." Note the "o" in the middle of the address. Subtle difference, but one that has caused me to get dozens of e-mails, some of which seem to contain rather sensitive information, that are not intended for me. Please check and correct this in your e-mail address book. THANKS!

-- Azi Paybarah

The state Democratic Party takes an original approach today to criticizing Rep. John Sweeney, attempting to quantify his lack of dedication to his upstate district by counting the number of times the congressman has blown off local media outlets.

I'm not sure sticking up for the press is a great vote-getting strategy -- as aggrieved constituencies go, journalists could hardly rank much lower in the public's estimation -- but we certainly appreciate the effort. (The full release is after the jump.)  read more »

We're immediately commencing a study of our own to determine some of the other least accessible officials in New York. Nominations welcome.

-- Josh Benson