PUBLIC SESSION
MEETING CONVENED
Chair Margot Botsford called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m. Also in attendance were Vice Chair Thomas A. Connors, Commissioner Wilbur P. Edwards, Jr., and Commissioner Patrick Hanley. Vice Chair Connors participated remotely. Commissioner Eron Hackshaw did not attend.
REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Chair Botsford announced that the meeting would take place in-person with remote access provided to the public pursuant to the law signed by Governor Healey on March 28, 2025. Chair Botsford noted that all votes at the meeting would be taken by roll call.
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
On the motion of Commissioner Edwards, seconded by Commissioner Hanley, the Commission voted 4-0 to waive the reading and approve the public session minutes of the June 30, 2025 Commission meeting.
| Vote: | |
|---|---|
| Chair Botsford | Yes |
| Commissioner Edwards | Yes |
| Vice Chair Connors | Yes |
| Commissioner Hanley | Yes |
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Executive Director David A. Wilson presented his monthly report.
Budget
Mr. Wilson provided an update on the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget. He reported that, on July 4th, the Governor signed the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget, which provides $3,750,316 in funding for the Commission. He noted that this funding was about 1% less than the Governor’s initial recommended $3,788,197 in funding for the Commission and the funding for the Commission proposed in both the House and Senate budget bills, and was the same amount the Commission’s funding was reduced to by the Conference Committee. Mr. Wilson noted that similar reductions were made in the funding of many other, but not all, independent and executive branch agencies. He stated that the Commission must submit its Fiscal Year 2026 Spending Plan to the Executive Office for Administration and Finance by August 26, 2025.
Chair Botsford asked how the Commission would address the lower level of funding. Mr. Wilson stated the Commission would reduce its discretionary spending but maintain current staffing. He noted that the vacancy in the Public Education and Communications Division Chief position had resulted in some cost savings and said that he hoped to fill both that position and the open Chief of Finance and Operations position in August.
Ongoing Projects
Mr. Wilson reported that the project for the development of additional branched content in the Commission’s online conflict of interest law training program had been completed. He further reported that substantial progress had been made with the implementation of the new Legal Case Management System and the replacement of the Commission’s existing SFI filing system, which would be discussed during the monthly reports of the Public Education and Communications Division and the Legal Division. Mr. Wilson noted that the Commission staff, with IT Specialist Tony Webb taking a leading role, is working with the vendor, Arbola, to address ongoing technical issues with the Legal Case Management System. Chair Botsford asked whether there would be additional costs associated with resolving the technical issues. Mr. Wilson responded that there would be no additional cost to the Commission for work that the vendor was contractually obligate to provide. He explained that certain deliverables had not been provided by the vendor, and that efforts are underway to make the Salesforce-based system fully operational.
New Commissioners
Mr. Wilson stated that there was nothing new to report regarding the appointment of a new Commissioner to succeed Commissioner Edwards.
Staff Retirement
Mr. Wilson stated that the retirement party for Chief Financial Officer Alice Wu will be held on August 12, 2025 at noon.
Personnel
Mr. Wilson reported that the Commission had been conducting first- and second-round interviews for the open Public Education and Communications Division Chief position and Chief of Finance and Operations position and said that he hoped to fill both positions by mid-August.
Next Meeting
Mr. Wilson reminded the Commission that the next Commission meeting was scheduled for September 18, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. Following discussion, the Commission scheduled its subsequent meeting for October 23, 2025 at 9:30 a.m., and did not schedule an August Commission meeting.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION MATTERS
Senior Public Information Officer Gerry Tuoti presented his memorandum reporting on the Public Education and Communications Division’s activities during June 2025.
Mr. Tuoti reported that, prior to retiring, former Public Education and Communications Division Chief David Giannotti conducted five 90-minute public education seminars in June attended by 204 public employees.
Mr. Tuoti provided an update on the new branched content for legislative staff for the online training program. He reported that the vendor, SkillBurst Interactive, had successfully loaded the updated training program to the Commission’s online learning management system and that the Commission had provided the new program files from SkillBurst to the approximately 20 public agencies that host the conflict of interest law courses on their own learning management systems.
Mr. Tuoti provided an update on the online conflict of interest law training program and hosting platform. He reported that he, Senior Program Coordinator Arthur Xia, and Administrative Assistant Arisa Waguespack responded to 316 calls and e-mails regarding the online learning training program and hosting platform in July, a decrease from the 377 calls and e-mails as reported at the June meeting and the 452 calls and e-mails reported at the May meeting. Mr. Tuoti noted that, in July, the Division received the lowest number of calls and e-mails regarding the online learning training program and hosting platform since October 2024, which is consistent with a downward trend observed so far in 2025.
Chair Botsford asked if there was a particular trend that explains why the number of calls and e-mails received were so low in July. Mr. Tuoti explained that the reduction was due to the front-loaded completion pattern of most registered users, who are more inclined to complete the conflict of interest law education requirements in the early part of the year, which led to a surge of calls and e-mails, most of which relate to technical issues with the system rather than the training content. He added that automated weekly reminders are sent every weekend to all registered users with past due courses or approaching deadlines, which caused a temporary spike in inquiries earlier in 2025 after the system update was first implemented in December 2024. Mr. Tuoti reported that more than 300,000 certificates had been issued for completion of the training or the summary acknowledgment, which has reduced the number of employees who have yet to complete the education requirements. He noted that there would likely be uptick in calls and e-mails beginning in August when school districts begin the new school year and conduct staff orientation meetings.
Mr. Tuoti provided an update on the Legal Case Management System project. He stated that the project team was continuing to work with the vendor to implement features to allow the system to accommodate online forms submissions of complaints, requests for advice, conflict of interest law disclosures, electronic case filings, public records requests, updated lists of special municipal employees, and charter school board member financial disclosures. Mr. Tuoti said that the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security is currently reviewing the accessibility of the system’s online forms and public portal.
Mr. Tuoti reported that the Commission’s LinkedIn page currently had 947 followers, which surpasses the State of Illinois Executive Ethics Commission’s LinkedIn page, only behind the Nevada Commission on Ethics’ LinkedIn page among state government ethics agencies.
LEGAL DIVISION MATTERS
General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery reported on the activities of the Legal Division in June 2025.
Chair Botsford asked whether the Attorneys of the Day receive a large number of calls from municipal employees. Ms. Slattery reported that most of the calls received by the Attorney of the Day are from municipal employees, including municipal board members. She noted that private sector employees who are interested in joining municipal boards also contact the Legal Division for guidance.
Legal Division Metrics for June 2025
Ms. Slattery presented the following Legal Division metrics for June 2025.
- Written advice. The Legal Division answered by letter or e-mail 33 written requests for advisory opinions under G.L. c. 268A and c. 268B. Of these requests, 5 pertained to SFIs.
| For comparison: | |
|---|---|
| June 2024 (same month prior year) (total/SFI): | 67/11 |
| May 2025 (previous month) (total/SFI): | 67/25 |
- Oral advice. The Legal Division attorneys provided advice by telephone in response to 339 requests for advice from state, county, and municipal officials. Of these requests, 17 pertained to SFIs.
| For comparison: | |
|---|---|
| June 2024 (same month prior year) (total/SFI): | 373/4 |
| May 2025 (previous month) (total/SFI): | 523/149 |
- 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.
| For comparison: | |
|---|---|
| June 2024 (same month prior year): | 0 |
| May 2025 (previous month): | 0 |
- Backlog. As of July 21, 2025, the Division had 1 pending request for written advice that were more than 30 days old. As of that date, there were a total of 7 pending requests for written advice.
Adjudicatory Matters
Ms. Slattery presented the July/August calendar of conferences/hearings in pending Commission adjudicatory proceedings.
SFI Report
Legal Division Deputy Chief/SFI Lauren Duca provided an update on Statements of Financial Interests (SFI) for Calendar Year 2024. Ms. Duca explained that, with the assistance of agency SFI liaisons and general counsels, the SFI Team continued to work with former public employees who had not yet filed, as well as new filers. Ms. Duca reported that the SFI Team handled a total of 41 phone calls, emails, and walk-ins for SFI assistance in June, compared to 370 in the prior month. She noted that the SFI Team continued to work with their vendor to resolve some minor technical issues with the SFI system. Ms. Duca further reported that the Commission entered into a new support and maintenance agreement with the vendor for the period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
Ms. Duca provided an update on the project to replace the Commission’s existing SFI filing system. She reported that the Commission negotiated and entered into a contract with a consultant, Gartner, Inc., to assist with the development of a replacement SFI system. Ms. Duca explained that, pursuant to the project plan prepared by the consultant, their 16-week engagement will begin with an assessment of the current system to identify key risks, data opportunities and pain points to validate the existing requirements and refine future state requirements. She noted that the additional work to be done by the consultant includes conducting a market scan, providing technology recommendations for the replacement system, drafting procurement documents to obtain a developer to build the replacement system and assisting with the evaluation of responses from bidders. Chair Botsford asked whether the substance of the personal financial information required on SFIs would remain the same. Ms. Duca reported that the Commission may only request information specified in the financial disclosure law and that the SFI form is tied directly to statutory requirements. She noted that while some questions may be rephrased or reorganized in the future, the substance will largely remain the same.
Ms. Duca stated that with the current SFI system, when a filer’s SFI is viewed in the Public Inspection Module, the system automatically sends a notification to the filer that identifies the viewer, their affiliation, and the year of the SFI being viewed. She reported that instead of following the procedure in the Public Inspection Module, a public user ran a script to automate bulk downloading of all the SFIs in the system for the years 2018 to 2024 at a rate of approximately four per second, which prompted the SFI system to notify filers multiple times that their Calendar Year 2024 SFI had been viewed, including those who filed in prior years but who did not and were not required to file for Calendar Year 2024.
Ms. Duca said that these multiple and erroneous notifications caused concern among filers, some of whom believed that the SFI system had been hacked or that their Calendar Year 2024 SFI had been repeatedly accessed. She stated that, as a result, many filers reviewed their redacted SFIs and, in doing so, some discovered mistakes in their filings, including home addresses not being redacted due to improper filing as well as disclosures of information that may be exempt from the public records law. Ms. Duca noted that while filers are permitted to amend their SFI, amendments are redlined and the changes remain visible, making it ineffective to correct errors to protect information from public view. She said that all the SFIs in the system filed as of July 7th were already publicly available. Vice Chair Connors said that he agreed that the SFI Team should not attempt to correct previously filed SFIs but should focus on working with the vendor to prevent automated scripts in the future and to implement safeguards in the new SFI system.
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION MATTERS
Enforcement Division Chief Monica Brookman presented the Enforcement Intake Metrics and Enforcement Case Metrics for June 2025. Ms. Brookman reported that the Enforcement Division reduced the complaint backlog from 35 to 29 in June and said that she hoped to keep the number of cases in the complaint backlog to under ten cases.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 3:03 p.m., on the motion of Chair Botsford, seconded by Commissioner Edwards, the Commission voted 4-0 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.
| Vote: | |
|---|---|
| Chair Botsford | Yes |
| Commissioner Edwards | Yes |
| Vice Chair Connors | Yes |
| Commissioner Hanley | Yes |
Chair Botsford 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 July 31, 2025
- Minutes of the Commission Meeting of June 30, 2025, Public Session
- Memorandum, dated July 24, 2025, from Senior Public Information Officer Gerry Tuoti to the Commission concerning Public Education and Communications Division activities in June 2025
- Memorandum, dated July 21, 2025, from General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery to the Commission setting forth Legal Division matters for the meeting
- Calendar of hearing dates and pre-hearing conferences in pending Commission adjudicatory matters
- Enforcement Intake Metrics
- Enforcement Case Metrics
Respectfully submitted,
Arthur Xia
Senior Program Coordinator