A graduate of Columbia University School of Law and Brandeis
University in Waltham, Wilson is kind of a fixture of Massachusetts government,
having been an attorney on the Ethics Commission staff for three decades. For the past eight months, he’d been serving
as the commission’s acting executive director.
He needs no warm-up for this big role.
The commission is composed of five members, three appointed
by the governor and one each appointed by the secretary of state and attorney
general. All of the current
commissioners are attorneys, and three of them are retired judges: Barbara
Dortch-Okara, Regina Quinlan and David Mills. (The non-judge lawyer-members are
Thomas Sartory and Maria Krokidas.
Wilson’s appointment, I thought, was a good occasion to look
at the product of the commission. So I
went to the agency web site -- http://www.mass.gov/ethics/
--and I downloaded and printed the 14 cases it resolved during calendar year
2015, the last year for which such information is publicly available.
What follows are abridged versions, or summaries, of those
cases. The verbiage has been taken for
the most part entirely from the 2015 commission records. I’ve added only the sub-heads above each case
and a word or two here and there to clarify the subject matter:
Conflict of Interest in Salisbury
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Henry Richenburg, a member of the Salisbury
Board of Selectmen, admitted to violating the conflict of interest law by his
actions as selectman in connection with the board’s consideration and approval of
an application for a license to operate a poultry business submitted by
Richenburg’s son-in-law. Richenburg paid
a $2,500 civil penalty.
Richenburg participated as a
selectman in the decisions to table the application and then to approve the
application. Richenburg also signed the
license along with the other selectmen.
At the time he participated in these matters, Richenburg knew that both
he and his daughter had a financial interest
in the proposed poultry business.
Problematical Hiring in Oak Bluffs
The commission voted to find
reasonable cause to believe that John Rose, Chief of the Oak Bluffs
Fire-Emergency Medical Services Department, violated section 19 of the conflict
of interest law by participating in the hiring and supervision of his immediate
family members. The commission chose to
resolve this through the issuance of a Public Education Letter rather
than an adjudicatory hearing because the commission recognized that in certain
areas of public service, such as fire and police departments, there is a strong
family tradition in which many members of the same family pursue the same type
of employment and frequently work together or for each other.
Non-Posted Job in Rutland
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Rutland Department of Public Works
Superintendent Gary Kellaher admitted to violating the conflict of interest law
by hiring his son into a seasonal DPW position without posting the
position. Kellaher paid a $2,500 civil
penalty.
Family Hiring in Somerset
The commission voted to find
reasonable cause to believe that Somerset Recreation Commission members
Maryellen Aspden, James Pereira, Raymond Frizado and Richard Silvia violated
the conflict of interest law by requesting that the Recreation Department
Director hire their family members for summer jobs with the department and/or by approving the summer jobs lists in 2012 and 2013 that
included those family members or others with whom they had private
relationships. The commission chose to resolve
the matter by issuing a Public Education Letter rather than through an
adjudicatory hearing in order to provide other public employees in similar
positions and circumstances with a clearer understanding of how to comply
with the conflict of interest law.
Self-Sanctioned Salary Hike in Cambridge
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Joseph Tulimieri, the former Executive Director
of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (CRA), admitted to violating the conflict of
interest law by increasing his own compensation on five separate
occasions. Tulimieri paid a $37,500
civil penalty and was also required to make restitution to the CRA in the
amount of $21,245. Tulimieri served as
the CRA executive director from 1978 until January 1, 2011.
Improper Financial Interest in Methuen
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Joyce Campagnone, a Methuen City Councilor who
is also a full-time paid employee of the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District,
admitted to violating the conflict of interest law by having a prohibited
financial interest in a municipal contract.
Campagnone paid a $1,000 civil penalty for the violation and made
restitution to the City of Methuen in the amount of $4,000.
A Trooper’s Out-of-Bounds Help for Family Member
The commission voted to find
reasonable cause to believe that Massachusetts State Police Trooper Seth
Peterson violated the conflict of interest law by: (a) using his position to
intervene with a tow company to have a family member’s tow charge reduced, and
to deprive the tow company of work to which it would have been entitled, and (b)
participating in an inspection of the tow company, which ultimately resulted in
the temporary removal of the company from the regional State Police tow
lists. The commission chose to resolve
the matter by issuing a Public Education Letter rather than through an
adjudicatory hearing because the State Police took disciplinary action against
Peterson, imposing a forfeiture of 15 vacation days, at a cost to Peterson of
approximately $5,500.
A Sheriff’s Misplaced Displeasure
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins admitted to violating the conflict of interest law in 2013 by identifying
himself as the sheriff when asking eight business owners in his district to take
down his opponent’s campaign signs on display in their shops. Tompkins paid a $2,500 civil penalty for the
violation.
Commission Withdraws After Care Coordinator Is Indicted
The commission issued an Order
allowing a Joint Motion to dismiss the adjudicatory proceeding involving
Kathryn Christopher, a former home care coordinator for the Town of Belmont
Council on Aging (COA). The commission’s
Enforcement Division initiated the adjudicatory proceeding in July 2010 by
issuing an Order to Show Cause (OTSC) alleging that Christopher repeatedly
violated several sections of the conflict of interest law. Specifically, the OTSC alleged that
Christopher violated the conflict of interest law by: (1) coordinating services for an elderly COA
client and selecting herself to provide those services to the client for
private compensation; (2) accessing the client’s funds and assets to pay for
Christopher’s personal and family expenses; and (3) using those funds and
assets for the benefit of herself and her family. In allowing the Joint Motion and dismissing
the proceeding, the commission stated that Christopher was criminally indicted
in September 2011 for conduct that related to the actions alleged in the OTSC,
and that the commission’s adjudicatory proceeding was stayed pending resolution
of the criminal case. In March 2015,
Christopher was convicted of one criminal charge, obtaining a signature by
false pretense, and was sentenced to a term of probation for 5 years.
'Active Deception' in Blandford
The commission issued a Final
Order on Summary Decision and Civil Penalty concluding the adjudicatory
proceeding involving Robert Nichols, a former member of the Board of Selectmen
of the Town of Blandford. The commission found that Nichols violated section 19
because he participated as a selectman in choosing Berkshire Consulting to do
work on a culvert, work in which he and Berkshire Consulting, his private
employer, had a financial interest…The
commission found that Nichols violated section 20 because he had a financial
interest in the $12,150.50 that the Town paid to Berkshire Consulting under the
contract. The commission ruled that
Nichols violated section 23(b)(2)(ii) by using his position as selectman to
secure an unwarranted privilege of substantial value -- $12,150.50 -- for
himself or others by misrepresenting the unavailability of Tighe and Bond (the
town’s engineering consultant) to work on the project and by mischaracterizing
his relationship with Berkshire Consulting to his fellow selectmen. The commission ordered Nichols to pay civil
penalties of: $5,000 for violating
section 19; $5,000 for violating section 20; and $2,500 for violating section
23(b)(2)(ii). Although Nichols had
reimbursed the town the $12,150.50 as the result of a different proceeding, the
commission concluded, “Civil penalties are appropriate because Nichols
accomplished his objective of directing town money to himself by means of
active deception as well as concealment of facts of vital importance.”
Consultant Acted on Own Plans in Canton
The commission issued a Decision
and Order concluding the adjudicatory proceeding involving Robert Murphy, a
former consultant to the Town of Canton Conservation Commission. The commission found that Murphy violated
sections 17(a) and 23(b)(3) of the conflict of interest law, and ordered Murphy
to pay a civil penalty of $10,000…Murphy violated section 23(b)(3) when, as the
town’s ConCom consultant, he knowingly or with reason to know, reviewed and
acted on applications and plans submitted by a company he operated, M&M Engineering, on behalf of
its private clients.
The commission ordered that Murphy pay a $5,000 civil penalty for
violating section 17(a), and a $5,000 civil penalty for violating section
23(b)(3).
Commissioner Mixed Town, Private Business in Marshfield
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Mark Stevenson, former chair of the Town
of Marshfield Conservation Commission, admitted to violating the conflict of
interest law by referring to his ConCom position and stating that there would
not be any complications with a marine construction project while discussing
his contracting company’s prospective bid on a construction project with
project officials, and by participating as a ConCom member in an enforcement
order issued for the project after his company did not receive the contract,
without disclosing his company’s unsuccessful bid for work on the project. Stevenson paid a $2,500 civil penalty for
violating two sections of the law.
Town Funds Subsidized Private Suit in Holland
On March 19, 2015, the commission
voted to find reasonable cause to believe that Town of Holland Board of
Selectmen members James Wettlaufer, Michael Kennedy, Christian Petersen and
Lynn Arnold violated the conflict of interest law by authorizing the use of
town funds to pay for town Highway Surveyor Brian Johnson’s private civil
lawsuit against a local blogger. The
commission also voted to find reasonable cause to believe that Johnson violated
the conflict of interest law by receiving payment of the legal fees in his
private civil lawsuit. Rather than
authorizing adjudicatory proceedings, the commission chose to resolve the
matter by issuing a Public Education Letter because the town has been
reimbursed in full and there is a question as to whether the selectmen relied
on advice of counsel.
Tainted Zoning Variance in Bridgewater
The commission approved a
Disposition Agreement in which Thomas Snell, a member of the West Bridgewater
Zoning Board of Appeals, admitted to violating the conflict of interest law by
participating as a ZBA member in granting variances for two properties while
knowing that he had a financial interest in those matters. Snell paid a $6,500 civil penalty for
violating the conflict of interest law.
Snell owns and operates Tom Snell Construction and Excavating, a sole
proprietorship that performs excavation and demolition work for property owners
and developers.
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