Patrick courts girls soccer team for votes

Popping out of his fourth-floor office on Wednesday, Patrick went down to a third-floor hallway where the championship girls soccer team from Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton had gathered before they were honored on the House floor.

Patrick greeted the girls, and told them that state law allows them to register to vote as long as they will be 18 before the next election. He repeated a frequent refrain that citizens get the government they deserve, and if they don’t get involved, government will be run by “professionals’’ who may not have their best interests in mind.

Wrapping up his gauzy pitch for civic participation, Patrick, who is facing a tough road to reelection in November, then leaned forward a bit from his podium and told the girls with a smile, “I’m not telling you who to vote for - necessarily.’’

After posing for a group photo with the girls, he was off, back into his executive office on the fourth floor, polishing his pitch for the next batch of State House visitors. -- MICHAEL LEVENSON

That’s right, Republican.

Linehan’s chief of staff, David Nagle, was as surprised as the Globe to discover Linehan’s new party affiliation. Linehan is not only a Democrat, he’s a Democratic committeeman for Southie’s Ward 7.

A day later, Nagle said the mistake was apparently made at the Office of Campaign and Political Finance where, under new disclosure rules, district city councilors are required to file campaign finance reports for the first time.

“They typed it wrong. We didn’t submit anything about party affiliation,’’ Nagle said.

That’s because Linehan is running for another term on the City Council, a nonpartisan office.

So, Democrats, breathe easy: He’s still in your column. -- MICHAEL LEVENSON

The mayor’s new chief of staff, Mitchell B. Weiss, tracks the countdown on an iPhone application called “Big Day.’’ Other people use the program to tick down the days until a wedding, graduation, or another of life’s major milestones. But at City Hall, the tally started at 1,463 days at Menino’s inauguration in January, and it comes up often.

“Every day,’’ Weiss said recently as he pulled his iPhone out of the breast pocket of his suit and tapped to check the countdown. “Every big meeting we ask people the number.’’

A decidedly low-tech version of the countdown can be found in Menino’s inner sanctum on the fifth floor of City Hall. Large block numbers have been printed on paper and tacked to the wall. Each day, a staffer pulls a number to bring the countdown up to date.

Other elected officials have used the same gimmick to foster a seize-the-day attitude among staff. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, for example, had a countdown clock that tracked the days left in his second term, when term limits almost forced him to leave office. But as that clock neared zero, Bloomberg had a change of heart. The City Council changed the law, and Bloomberg won a third term, allowing him to reset the clock for four more years.

Last week in a major speech, Menino repeatedly referred to his own countdown like a ticking clock. But then Menino smiled and made a not-so-subtle threat.

“Just imagine what I could do in a sixth term.’’ -- ANDREW RYAN