August 2, 2018 State Ethics Commission Meeting Minutes- Public Session

MEETING CONVENED

Chairman Barbara A. Dortch-Okara called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m.  Also in attendance were Vice Chairman David Mills, Commissioner Thomas J. Sartory, Commissioner Maria Krokidas, and Commissioner R. Marc Kantrowitz.

APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES

On the motion of Commissioner Kantrowitz, seconded by Commissioner Sartory, the Commission voted 5-0 to waive the reading and approve the public session, executive session and executive session - adjudicatory minutes of the June 28, 2018 Commission meeting.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Executive Director David A. Wilson presented his monthly report.

Personnel

Mr. Wilson reported that Senior Assistant General Counsel Pauline Nguyen had resigned to accept a new position as Associate General Counsel of the Cannabis Control Commission. He said he is thankful to Ms. Nguyen for her excellent work during her nearly four years with the Commission. At the suggestion of Commissioner Mills, the Commission decided to send a letter to Ms. Nguyen thanking her for her high-quality work.

Mr. Wilson also told the Commission that incoming General Counsel and Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery will join the Commission August 6th. He said he and the staff are excited for Ms. Slattery to start.

With Ms. Nguyen’s departure, there is now a vacancy for a Legal Division attorney. Due to a budget increase, the Commission also has funding to add a fourth Enforcement Division Attorney. Mr. Wilson said the Commission would soon post the two positions.

Budget

Government Relations Officer Robert Milt provided an update on the Commission’s budget. He said that since the June 28th Commission meeting, the Governor had signed the Fiscal Year 2019 General Appropriations Act, which includes $2,239,280 in funding for the Commission. Mr. Milt stated the amount represents a nearly 7 percent increase over of the Commission’s FY 2018 appropriation.  Mr. Milt further added that the final budget figure is about $33,000 or 1.6 percent more than the amount included in the Governor’s budget proposal.

Mr. Milt thanked everyone who supported and assisted the Commission throughout the budget process, including the fiscal policy analysts, Emi Joy and Rob Oliver, from the Executive Office for Administration and Finance; Senator Walter Timilty and Representative Jennifer Benson, chairs of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight; Representative Jeffrey Sanchez, Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means; Senate Committee on Ways and Means Analyst Mark O’Halloran; and Commission Chief Financial Officer Alice Wu.

Mr. Milt said the Commission would submit its Fiscal Year 2019 spending plan later in August, then submit its Fiscal Year 2020 budget request in November.

Commissioner Krokidas asked whether there may be an opportunity to remind legislators of the Commission’s efforts relative to policy and budget priorities. Mr. Milt replied that there would be opportunities to have conversations about the statutory language changes that were included in the recommendations of the Taskforce on Integrity in State and Local Government. Mr. Wilson said he and Mr. Milt are continuing a dialogue with the Legislature on these matters, and that it will be important to have the new General Counsel and Legal Division Chief fully engaged in that dialogue.

Chairman Dortch-Okara asked whether there was a potential to raise the $75 per diem for Commissioners. Mr. Wilson said the per diem, which is set by the Secretary of Administration and Finance, had not been raised in his memory. He said the Commission would examine what other similarly structured commissions provide as per diems, and noted that the per diems come from the Commission’s budget.

Office Improvements

Mr. Wilson reported that two new workstations have been installed in the Commission’s office. He said that one is complete, and the other is awaiting the installation of new door after a vendor mistakenly ordered the wrong type of door. Mr. Wilson reported that the work is expected to be finished by the time of the Commission’s next meeting.

Upcoming Events

Mr. Wilson said that this year marks the 40^th anniversary of the enactment of the financial disclosure law and the creation of the Commission. The Commission first met in the fall of 1978. He said that in 1988, the Commission held an ethics symposium to mark its 10^th anniversary. He suggested that the Commission could plan a smaller scale agency activity, such as an agency retreat, to mark the 40^th anniversary. He said he would be seeking input regarding the retreat or other agency activity in the coming weeks and months.

Mr. Wilson also told the Commissioners that the Commission’s second-annual ice cream social will be held August 14^th.

New Commission Chair

Mr. Wilson discussed the appointment of a new Commission Chair after Chairman Dortch-Okara’s term expires Oct. 11th. The new Chair will be appointed by the Governor. Mr. Wilson said the Commission’s Chair has always been a newly appointed commissioner. He said he would soon contact the Governor’s legal counsel for an update on the appointment process.

Next Meeting

Mr. Wilson noted that the next Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 20th at 9:00 a.m.

PUBLIC EDUCATION DIVISION REPORT

Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti presented the monthly Public Education Division Report and the Public Education and Information Technology Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018. He said the Fiscal 2018 Annual Report is expected to be released by the end of September.

LEGAL DIVISION MATTERS

Acting Legal Division Chief Lauren E. Duca reported on the activities of the Legal Division.   

Legal Division Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018

Ms. Duca presented the Legal Division Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018. Mr. Wilson thanked Ms. Duca for her work as acting Legal Division Chief over the past several months.

SFI Report

Ms. Duca discussed the SFI filing season for CY 2017. She said that 95% of all filers filed their SFIs on time and noted that correlates to the same percentage who filed electronically. She said the SFI team was able to reduce the number of formal notices of lateness sent by half as a result of the work the SFI team did with agency liaisons to have required filers enter their personal email addresses into the electronic filing system when they left state employment. Ms. Duca said two SFI matters will be referred to the Enforcement Division.

Commissioner Kantrowitz asked about auditing the SFIs that have been filed for accuracy. Ms. Duca said that has been an ongoing topic of discussion and that the Commission used to have an analyst who compared each year’s filings to the previous year’s. She said the challenge is that the Commission does not have the resources to verify the personal finances each of the 4,014 required filers reports. Ms. Duca said she expects that discussion to resume after the arrival of Ms. Slattery as the new General Counsel and Legal Division Chief. Mr. Wilson said that, to some extent, much of the auditing that was done in the past is now done by the electronic filing system. He also noted that making the SFIs publicly viewable provides an additional accuracy check.

Legal Division Trainings for New General Counsel and Legal Division Chief

Ms. Duca reported that the Legal Division will conduct a series of training sessions for the new General Counsel and Legal Division Chief on a variety of topics related to the conflict of interest law and financial disclosure law beginning the week of August 6, 2018. She invited any Commissioners interested in attending any training sessions to contact her.

Legal Division Metrics for June 2018

Ms. Duca presented the following Legal Division metrics for June 2018.  She said that the Legal Division has not had a backlog since February.

• Written advice.  The Legal Division answered by letter or email 64 written requests for advisory opinions under G.L. c. 268A and c. 268B.

          For comparison:          June 2017 (same month last year):                             56

                                               May 2018 (previous month)                                        83                   

• Oral advice.  The Legal Division attorneys provided advice by telephone or on a walk-in basis in response to 409 requests for advice from state, county and municipal officials.

          For comparison:          June 2017 (same month last year):                             403

                                               May 2018 (previous month):                                       551                                

• Review of municipal letters.  Division staff reviewed 2 letters issued by city solicitors/town counsel pursuant to G.L. c. 268A, § 22 and 930 CMR 1.03.

          For comparison:          June 2017 (same month last year):                             5

                                               May 2018 (previous month):                                       4

• Backlog.  As of June 20, 2018, the Division has 0 pending requests for written advice that are more than 30 days old.  There are 17 pending requests for written advice.

Adjudicatory Matters

Ms. Duca presented the hearing and pre-hearing conference schedule.

Litigation Matters

McGovern v. State Ethics Commission: Hampden Superior Court Civil Action No. 1679CV00082. Ms. Duca reported that Edward McGovern sought judicial review pursuant to G.L. c. 30A of the Commission’s finding of violation against him. On May 2, 2018, the court issued a decision and order denying McGovern’s motion for judgment on the proceedings and affirming the Commission’s decision. On May 25, 2018, McGovern filed a Notice of Appeal from the Superior Court’s decision. The Commission received notice of entry of the case in the Appeals Court on July 24, 2018.

Hansen v. State Ethics Commission: Norfolk Superior Court Civil Action No. 1782CV01384. Ms. Duca reported that Howard Hansen seeks judicial review pursuant to G.L. c. 30A of the Commission’s finding of violations against him. The appeal was served on the Commission on November 20, 2017. The Commission filed the record on February 15, 2018. Hansen had 30 days from the service of the record to file a motion for judgment on the pleadings, but did not do so. On June 6, 2018, the Superior Court issued a Notice of Dismissal for Lack of Prosecution of G.L. c. 30A Appeal. The Notice states that the case will be dismissed unless Hansen notifies the court, in writing, and within 30 days, that he has served a motion for judgment on the pleadings on the Commission. To date, the Commission has not received anything from Hansen.

McClure v. State Ethics Commission:  Lowell Superior Court Civil Action No. MICV2013-04186-L. On August 2, 2013, the Commission issued a decision and order in In re McClure

finding that Richard McClure repeatedly violated G.L. c. 268A, § 17, and assessed a civil penalty of $5,000 for those violations. McClure then sought judicial review pursuant to G.L. c. 30A. On November 27, 2015, the court issued a decision and order denying McClure’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and affirming the Commission’s decision. On July 18, 2018, McClure paid his civil penalty.

UPDATE:  PROCESS FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Enforcement Division Staff Counsel Candies Pruitt-Doncaster told the Commission that an ad hoc committee of Commissioner Mills and Commissioner Sartory would collect input from staff for the evaluation of the Executive Director following the August 2nd Commission meeting and at a future date. She said the next step would be for the Commission to present its results in public session and then convene in executive session to prepare the written the evaluation.

ENFORCEMENT DIVISION MATTERS

Enforcement Division Report for Fiscal Year 2018

Enforcement Division Chief Monica Brookman presented the Enforcement Division Report for Fiscal Year 2018. Ms. Brookman said a goal was to move cases that had been delayed. She reported that the Division moved 17 delayed cases in Fiscal Year 2018. Those cases were from 2014 and 2016. She noted that a 2015 case will also soon be moved. Ms. Brookman said the Commission entered into five disposition agreements in the past fiscal year and issued three public education letters and 113 private education letters. Ms. Brookman said there is still a significant backlog that the division is working to reduce.

Ms. Brookman thanked Ms. Pruitt-Doncaster for taking on additional work while she was on leave.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

At 10:02 a.m., on the motion of Chairman Dortch-Okara, seconded by Commissioner Kantrowitz, the Commission voted 5-0 to enter executive session to discuss matters subject to the provisions of G.L. c. 30A, § 21, subparagraph (a)(7), and § 18, and G.L. c. 268B, §§ 3 and 4, including investigatory matters, an amended preliminary inquiry recommendation, a supplemental summons authorization request, a disposition agreement, a preliminary inquiry report, advisory opinions, and adjudicatory matters.

Chairman Dortch-Okara stated that the Commission would not reconvene in public session following the executive session.

VOTE:  Chairman Dortch-Okara    yes    
             Commissioner Mills           yes  
             Commissioner Sartory       yes  
             Commissioner Krokidas     yes 
             Commissioner Kantrowitz  yes 

LIST OF DOCUMENTS USED AT THIS MEETING

1. Agenda for the Commission Meeting of August 2, 2018

2. Minutes of the State Ethics Commission Meeting of June 28, 2018 Public and Executive Sessions

3. Memorandum dated July 26, 2018 from Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti to the Commission concerning the Public Education and Communications Division report for the meeting
    
4. Memorandum dated July 26, 2018 from Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti to the Commission concerning the Public Education and Communications Division and Information Technology Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2018

5. Memorandum dated July 25, 2018 from Acting Legal Division Chief Lauren E. Duca to the Commission setting forth Legal Division matters for the August 2, 2018 meeting
    
6. Memorandum dated July 25, 2018 from Acting Legal Division Chief Lauren E. Duca to the Commission entitled Legal Division Report for Fiscal Year 2018: 7/1/17 – 6/30/18
    
7. Memorandum dated July 25, 2018 from Acting Legal Division Chief Lauren E. Duca to the Commission regarding the Calendar Year 2017 Statements of Financial Interests filing season

8. Calendar of Hearing Dates in pending Commission Adjudicatory Proceedings.
    
9. Memorandum dated July 20, 2018 from Enforcement Division Chief Monica Brookman to the Commission entitled Enforcement Division Report for Fiscal Year 2018: July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018

Respectfully submitted,

Gerry Tuoti

Public Information Officer