PUBLIC SESSION
MEETING CONVENED
Vice Chair Thomas J. Sartory called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Also in attendance were Commissioner R. Marc Kantrowitz, Commissioner Josefina Martinez, and Commissioner Wilbur P. Edwards, Jr. Chair Maria J. Krokidas participated remotely.
REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Vice Chair Sartory announced that the Commission previously voted to authorize remote participation on December 16, 2011, and that Chair Krokidas would participate remotely. Vice Chair Sartory noted that all votes taken at the meeting would be taken by roll call.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
In the Matter of Stephen Comtois, Docket No. 19-0003: Both parties made closing arguments. The Commission took the matter under advisement.
The meeting recessed at 10:12 a.m. and reconvened at 10:18 a.m.
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
On the motion of Commissioner Kantrowitz, seconded by Commissioner Edwards, the Commission voted 5-0 to waive the reading and approve the public session minutes of the January 15, 2020 Commission meeting.
| Chair Krokidas | Yes |
| Vice Chair Sartory | Yes |
| Commissioner Kantrowitz | Yes |
| Commissioner Martinez | Yes |
| Commissioner Edwards, Jr. | Yes |
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Executive Director David A. Wilson presented his monthly report.
Personnel
Mr. Wilson informed the Commission that Special Investigator Kevin Mazza had resigned his position and that his last day at the Commission would be March 6, 2020.
Mr. Wilson reported that the hiring process for a new investigator was underway. He said the job opening was posted on February 19, 2020 and that applications were due by March 11, 2020. Mr. Wilson said the Commission had already received many applications from interested candidates.
Mr. Wilson stated that he would be discussing strategies with the division chiefs for preventing staff exposure to infectious diseases while ensuring continuity of operations in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Budget
Mr. Wilson stated that the Commission’s maintenance budget request for Fiscal Year 2021 was filed with the Executive Office for Administration and Finance on October 18, 2019. He said that the Commission requested an increase of slightly less than 4%, or approximately $92,000, over the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2020 funding to maintain the Commission’s current level of service in the next fiscal year.
Mr. Wilson said that the Commission filed a budget expansion request on November 22 to seek $100,000 in funding to add an attorney to the staff to perform work for both the Enforcement Division and the Legal Division. If approved, the budget expansion and maintenance budget requests would bring the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2021 total budget to $2,583,694, or an increase of about 8% over the Commission total Fiscal Year 2020 funding.
Mr. Wilson reported that the Office of the Governor released its Fiscal Year 2021 budget recommendation on January 22, 2020. The budget recommendation includes $2,434,103 in funding for the Commission, a $42,000 increase over Fiscal Year 2020 but still approximately $149,000 less than the Commission’s full budget request. Mr. Wilson said that he will testify before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means on March 16, 2020 to present the Commission’s request for Fiscal Year 2021 funding.
Audit
Mr. Wilson reported that the State Auditor’s Office was continuing its audit of the Commission.
Ongoing Projects
Mr. Wilson discussed ongoing projects to replace the Commission’s case management system, to replace the Commission’s conflict of interest law online training program, and to move the Commission’s computer servers to a new server room. He said that the first two projects are nearly entirely dependent on the availability of state bond funding, and the information technology bond bill had not yet been passed. He reported that the Commission’s application for Fiscal Year 2021 capital funding was submitted to the Executive Office of Technology and Security Services (EOTSS) on December 6. He said an RFQ has been developed by EOTSS for the case management project but will not be issued until state bond funding is made available.
Mr. Wilson stated the Commission also requested funding in Fiscal Year 2020 for a consultant with expertise in electronic learning and learning management systems to help define functional and technical requirements for the conflict of interest law online training replacement project with the goal of issuing an RFQ when capital funding becomes available.
Mr. Wilson said that Government Affairs Officer Robert Milt and Public Information Officer Gerry Tuoti met with EOTSS on January 17, 2020 to discuss the Fiscal Year 2020 contingency request and Fiscal Year 2021 capital funding request. Mr. Tuoti stated that EOTSS approved the Commission’s funding request on February 20, 2020 and prepared a service agreement for the Commission to receive the funding.
Mr. Wilson said that Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti and Information Technology Specialist Tony Webb have spoken with EOTSS about the pending relocation of network servers from the Commission’s office to a server room that EOTSS operates in the building. Mr. Wilson noted that the relocation of the network servers would ideally occur on a weekend to limit any disruptions during business hours. He also said that relocation of the network servers could free up office space for an additional staff member.
Next Meeting
Mr. Wilson reminded the Commission that the next Commission meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 9:30 a.m.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION MATTERS
Mr. Giannotti presented the monthly Public Education and Communications Division Report.
Mr. Giannotti reported that a press release was issued by Public Information Officer Tuoti on January 9, 2020 concerning the Public Education Letter issued to Former Winchester Zoning Board of Appeals Member Lawrence Beals.
Mr. Giannotti stated that he conducted five public education seminars in January 2020 as well as a conflict of interest law briefing for a transition committee for the newly elected Mayor of Fall River. He also reported that he and Mr. Tuoti responded to 22 press calls and 31 non-press calls.
Mr. Giannotti said that there is a new section of the division report that will provide compliance metrics about the conflict of interest law education requirements. All public agencies were required to distribute a summary of the conflict of interest law to all employees for this compliance cycle. Mr. Giannotti explained that the Commission is the keeper of the records for conflict of interest law education records for elected state and county officials. He said that the first notices of the training requirements were distributed in January through sixteen different e-mail distribution lists. Mr. Giannotti said that he and Program Coordinator Arthur Xia have been processing compliance records and responding to any questions about the education requirements.
LEGAL DIVISION MATTERS
General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery reported on the activities of the Legal Division.
Legal Division Metrics for January 2020
Ms. Slattery presented the following Legal Division metrics for January 2020.
- Written advice. The Legal Division answered by letter or email 53 written requests for advisory opinions under G.L. c. 268A and c. 268B. Of these requests, 10 pertained to SFIs.
| January 2019 (same month last year): | 60 |
| December 2019 (previous month) (total/SFI): | 50/7 |
- Oral advice. The Legal Division attorneys provided advice by telephone or on a walk-in basis in response to 566 requests for advice from state, county and municipal officials. Of these requests, 57 pertained to SFIs.
| January 2019 (same month last year): | 443 |
| December 2019 (previous month) (total/SFI): | 366/34 |
- Review of municipal letters. Division staff reviewed 0 letters issued by city solicitors/town counsel pursuant to G.L. c. 268A, § 22 and 930 CMR 1.03.
| January 2019 (same month last year): | 2 |
| December 2019 (previous month): | 1 |
- 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 23 pending requests for written advice.
SFI Summary
Legal Division Deputy Chief/SFI Lauren Duca provided an update on Statements of Financial Interests (SFI). Ms. Duca said that the SFI Team opened the Calendar Year 2019 SFI filing season as scheduled on January 27, 2020. She reported that there are currently 792 filers with around 100-200 people typically filing on the first day. Ms. Duca also said that since the opening of the Calendar Year 2019 filing season, the SFI Team has fielded phone calls, walk-ins, and e-mails from individuals trying to file.
Ms. Duca noted that this is the first filing season when a password was not included in the user access notification. Last year, the SFI Team used enhancement hours available to it under its support and maintenance agreement with the vendor to revise the notification to remove the password to enhance the security of the system for filers.
Commissioner Kantrowitz asked when the filing deadline is to file a Calendar Year 2019 SFI. Ms. Duca replied that the filing deadline for appointed public employees to file their Calendar Year 2019 SFI is on May 1, 2020, while the filing deadline for elected public officials to file their Calendar Year 2019 SFI is on May 26, 2020.
Adjudicatory Matters
Ms. Slattery presented the calendar of hearing dates in pending Commission adjudicatory proceedings.
Litigation Matters
Ms. Slattery provided an update on McGovern v. State Ethics Commission. Ms. Slattery reported that the Supreme Judicial Court denied McGovern’s application for further appellate review on December 23, 2019.
Internal Control Plan
Ms. Slattery presented the draft internal control plan for review by the Commission. She stated that all state agencies are required by law to have internal control plans established in accordance with guidelines prepared by the Office of the Comptroller. She explained that the plan includes standards, policies, and procedures to minimize risk as the Commission seeks to fulfill its mission.
Ms. Slattery stated that a draft internal control plan was reviewed by the Audit, Finance, and Human Resources Committee on November 21, 2019. The Office of the Comptroller provided feedback on the draft plan on November 26, 2019, which was incorporated into the revised draft submitted for review by the Commission.
Vice Chair Sartory stated that the Commission would postpone discussing and voting on the internal control plan until the next Commission meeting in order to provide additional time to review the revised draft plan.
OCPF Emergency Regulations
Ms. Slattery stated that the Governor signed new campaign finance legislation into law on November 27, 2019. She explained that as part of the new law, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) is required to promulgate regulations, in consultation with the State Ethics Commission, relative to the appropriate use of websites and social media for campaign purposes. On December 26, 2019, OCPF issued emergency regulations, 970 CMR 1.24 (“emergency regulations”).
Ms. Slattery noted that the conflict of interest law defines a public employee more broadly than it is defined in OCPF’s emergency regulations. She and Mr. Wilson recommended that the Commission propose to OCPF the addition to the emergency regulations of a provision stating that website and social media use by public employees as defined in the emergency regulations, as well as by state, county, and municipal employees as defined in G.L. c. 268A, § 1, is subject to the conflict of interest law.
The Commission agreed by consensus that a letter should be submitted to OCPF proposing this revision of its emergency regulations.
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION MATTERS
Enforcement Division Chief Monica Brookman presented the Enforcement Intake Metrics.
Ms. Brookman stated that the first round of interviews with selected candidates for the Special Investigator position would begin the week of March 13, 2020.
Ms. Brookman reported that the backlog of complaints received over six months ago spiked significantly last month due to the high number of substantial complaints received during Summer 2019 when the division was short staffed. She said that the investigators reduced these numbers by the end of January by moving 126 cases out of intake, which is the most complaints that the division has been able to process in over a year.
Ms. Brookman stated that there are no complaints in intake that are over a year old, and complaints over six months have been reduced to 124. She also noted that the number of overall complaints in intake fell from 517 to 439, a decrease partially due to an unusually low volume of complaints received in January.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 10:59 a.m., on the motion of Vice Chair Sartory, seconded by Commissioner Edwards, 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 adjudicatory matters.
| Chair Krokidas | Yes |
| Vice Chair Sartory | Yes |
| Commissioner Kantrowitz | Yes |
| Commissioner Martinez | Yes |
| Commissioner Edwards, Jr. | Yes |
Vice Chair Sartory stated that the Commission would not reconvene in public session following the executive session.
LIST OF DOCUMENTS USED AT THIS MEETING
- Agenda for the Commission Meeting of February 27, 2020
- Minutes of the State Ethics Commission Meeting of January 15, 2020 Public Session
- Memorandum dated February 20, 2020 from Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti to the Commission concerning the Public Education and Communications Division report for the meeting
- Memorandum dated February 19, 2020 from General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery to the Commission setting forth Legal Division matters for the meeting
- Legal Division Calendar
- Draft Internal Control Plan Updated February 27, 2020
- OCPF Emergency Regulations 970 CMR 1.24 on Website and Social Media Use by Public Employees
- Enforcement Case Metrics
Respectfully submitted,
Arthur Xia
Program Coordinator