PUBLIC SESSION
MEETING CONVENED
Vice Chair David A. Mills called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m. Also in attendance were Commissioner Thomas J. Sartory, Commissioner R. Marc Kantrowitz and Commissioner Josefina Martinez. Chair Maria J. Krokidas participated remotely
REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Vice Chair Mills announced that the Commission previously voted to authorize remote participation on December 16, 2011; that Chair Krokidas would participate remotely; and that the reason for Chair Krokidas’ remote participation was geographic distance. Vice Chair Mills noted that all votes taken at the meeting would be by roll call, and that he would be chairing the meeting in Chair Krokidas’ absence.
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 minutes of the January 23, 2019 Commission meeting.
VOTE: Chair Krokidas yes
Commissioner Mills yes
Commissioner Sartory yes
Commissioner Kantrowitz yes
Commissioner Martinez yes
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Executive Director David A. Wilson presented his monthly report.
Personnel
Mr. Wilson invited Enforcement Division Chief Monica Brookman to speak about a personnel-related event. Ms. Brookman announced that Special Investigator Katelyn Farago recently welcomed her baby. Ms. Brookman said the mother and baby are doing well.
Mr. Wilson provided an update on the ongoing process to fill the vacant attorney position in the Legal Division. He said the application period closed February 8th, and that there was a strong response to the job posting. The Legal Division has conducted first- and second-round interviews. Mr. Wilson said it is anticipated that the Commission will be able to extend an offer to a candidate in March, with the new attorney beginning work by April. With the addition of a new Legal Division attorney, the Commission will be fully staffed, although Special Investigators Katelyn Farago and Timothy Gravel will continue to be away for several months on parental and military leave, respectively.
Mr. Wilson reported that the Commission has requested funding in Fiscal Year 2020 for an additional position in the Public Education and Communications Division. Mr. Wilson said he thinks it would be a great investment to put more resources into the critical functions the Public Education and Communications Division performs. He said Commission efforts to increase awareness and knowledge of the conflict of interest law are a very effective use of public resources.
Budget
Mr. Wilson reported that since the last Commission meeting, the Governor submitted a Fiscal Year 2020 budget that includes $2,283,095 in funding for the Commission. He said that the Governor’s figure represents an increase of almost 2 percent over the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2019 funding, but is nearly $109,000 less than the Commission requested. A significant portion of that approximately $109,000 would be for the proposed new position in the Public Education and Communications Division.
Mr. Wilson said that each year he goes before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means to present the Commission’s request for funding. He said he anticipates speaking before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means in the coming weeks. Mr. Wilson thanked Chief Financial Officer Alice Wu and Government Affairs Officer Robert Milt for their work on budget matters. He said the Budget Team works to communicate with staff members of various legislative committees, and that the team hopes to meet with legislators to discuss the Commission’s current funding request.
Vice Chair Mills thanked the Budget Team for its work. He also said that he recently attended a seminar conducted by Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti, and that the seminar was informative and well done.
New Case Management System
Mr. Wilson reported that the Commission, which is partnering with the Executive Office of Technology and Security Services to find a replacement for its case management system, Ethos, is now participating in a second round of product demonstrations. He said several other agencies are also partnering in the effort, hopefully enabling the agencies to use their combined purchasing power. He said he hopes the search will be completed by the end of the calendar year.
Server Room
Mr. Wilson provided an update on the network servers located in the Commission’s office. He said the servers were moved to a new location in the office two years ago, but still take up a considerable amount of space. Mr. Wilson said the servers are sometimes noisy and explained that there are concerns that they could be damaged in the event that the overhead fire-suppression sprinklers in the office ever activate. He said that moving the servers would free up space that could potentially be used for a new work station or office.
Mr. Wilson said that the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security have worked jointly to build a new server room on the seventh floor of the McCormack Building. He reported that he, Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti, and Information Technology Specialist Tony Webb recently toured the new server room. Mr. Wilson said the new server room has a power backup system and a fire suppression system that does not use water. He said he hopes to have the Commission’s servers relocated to the new server room within the next year. He said the Commission is in the process of obtaining an estimate for the cost of conducting preliminary work in anticipation of the servers moving.
Office improvements
Mr. Wilson discussed plans to carpet the Commission’s entire office space and paint the interiors of all individual offices. He said his observation is that the Commission’s office is one of the only offices in the building without carpeting. Mr. Wilson said that most individual offices at the Commission have not been painted in 30 years. He said he expects to provide a further update at the March Commission meeting.
Next Meeting
Mr. Wilson stated that the next Commission meeting is scheduled for March 21, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION
Mr. Wilson stated that employee compensation accounts for approximately 94 percent of the Commission’s budget. He discussed a long-standing bifurcated system of compensation for Commission employees. Mr. Wilson stated that some Commission staff members are paid according to the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Unit 6 Collective Bargaining Agreement, and other staff members are paid at a level determined by the Executive Director, with the Commission’s approval. He said that the NAGE Unit 6 CBA approved in 2018 included a 1% increase in pay retroactive to July 2017; an additional 1% increase retroactive to July 2017 provided that the state met specified revenue benchmarks; a 2% across-the-board increase effective July 1, 2018; and a 2% across-the-board increase effective July 1, 2019. Last year, the Commission, at Mr. Wilson’s recommendation, approved a 2.1% increase for staff who are not paid according to the CBA, except for the Executive Director. Mr. Wilson said that, as Executive Director, he has expressed a desire to maintain parity between the two groups of employees so that everyone is compensated fairly and appropriately. He said that to maintain that parity, he was asking the Commission to approve a 2 percent increase in salaries for employees who are not compensated according to the NAGE Unit 6 CBA retroactive to July 2, 2018 or the date of each employee’s first day of Commission employment, whichever is later. Responding to a question from Commissioner Sartory, Mr. Wilson said the total cost of the pay increases would be approximately $20,000.
On the motion of Commissioner Sartory, seconded by Commissioner Martinez, the Commission voted 5-0 to approve, as requested by the Executive Director, a 2% increase in salaries of all non-contract commission employees, not including the Executive Director, who are not compensated according to the NAGE Unit 6 CBA, retroactive to the later of July 2, 2018 or the employee’s first day of Commission employment.
VOTE: Chair Krokidas yes
Commissioner Mills yes
Commissioner Sartory yes
Commissioner Kantrowitz yes
Commissioner Martinez yes
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION REPORT
Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti presented the monthly Public Education and Communications Division Report.
Mr. Giannotti said that he recently completed two conflict of interest law seminars for approximately 35 staff members of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance at the invitation of that agency. He said that he has already scheduled 68 seminars through the end of the fiscal year and expects that number to increase. In fiscal 2018, he conducted 63 seminars. Mr. Giannotti said he is pleased with the volume of inquires he is receiving from public agencies interested in scheduling seminars.
LEGAL DIVISION MATTERS
General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery reported on the activities of the Legal Division.
Legal Division Metrics for January 2019
Ms. Slattery presented the following Legal Division metrics for January 2019.
- Written advice. The Legal Division answered by letter or email 60 written requests for advisory opinions under G.L. c. 268A and c. 268B.
For comparison: January 2018 (same month last year): 67
December 2018 (previous month): 38
- Oral advice. The Legal Division attorneys provided advice by telephone or on a walk-in basis in response to 443 requests for advice from state, county and municipal officials.
For comparison: January 2018 (same month last year): 444
December 2018 (previous month): 334
- 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: January 2018 (same month last year): 3
December 2018 (previous month): 0
- Backlog. As of today, the Division has 6 pending requests for written advice that are more than 30 days old. There is a total of 25 pending requests for written advice.
SFI Summary
Deputy Legal Division Chief/SFI Lauren E. Duca provided an update on Statements of Financial Interests. She reported that the SFI filing system for 2018 SFIs opened on January 29, 2019. She said this was the earliest opening in many years and that filers will have more than three months to file their SFIs. Of the 3,737 required filers, 209 filed electronically on the opening day. As of February 21, 675, or approximately 18 percent of required filers, had filed their SFIs. Ms. Duca said the SFI team was working with its vendor to correct a glitch in the electronic filing system that caused the filing deadline for some elected officials to be displayed as February 25 instead of May 28. She said all affected filers were being notified by email of the correct filing deadline.
Litigation Matters
McGovern v. State Ethics Commission: Appeals Court Docket No. 2018-P-1060. Oral argument is scheduled to take place on March 12, 2019. The panel will be Justices Desmond, Sacks and Lemire. Legal Division Attorney Norah Mallam argue for the Commission. Attorney Vincent Bongiorni will argue for McGovern.
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION MATTERS
Investigations Unit Metrics Report
Enforcement Division Chief Monica Brookman presented the Enforcement Intake Metrics for January 2019. Ms. Brookman said the backlog of open complaints continued to be reduced. In anticipation of Special Investigator Katelyn Farago’s family leave, the Division prioritized reducing the backlog. Ms. Brookman thanked Mr. Giannotti for volunteering to assist the Division. Ms. Brookman said that with two investigators currently out, her goal is to avoid having the backlog increase.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 10:16 a.m., on the motion of Commissioner Sartory, 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, preliminary inquiries, summons authorization requests, and advisory opinions.
VOTE: Chair Krokidas yes
Commissioner Mills yes
Commissioner Sartory yes
Commissioner Kantrowitz yes
Commissioner Martinez yes
Vice Chair Mills stated that the Commission would not reconvene in public session following the executive session.
Chair Krokidas confirmed that no other person was present at her location.
LIST OF DOCUMENTS USED AT THIS MEETING
1. Agenda for the Commission Meeting of January 23, 2019
2. Minutes of the State Ethics Commission Meeting of December 20, 2018 Public and Executive Sessions
3. Memorandum dated January 17, 2019 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 January 14, 2019 from General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery to the Commission setting forth Legal Division matters for the January 23, 2019 meeting
5. Legal Division Calendar
6. Report of Enforcement Division Intake Metrics
Respectfully submitted,
Gerry Tuoti
Public Information Officer