Press Release  New Braintree Select Board Member Randall Walker Pays $5,000 Civil Penalty for Violating Conflict of Interest Law

Boston, MA — New Braintree Select Board Member Randall Walker has admitted that he violated the conflict of interest law by voting to authorize the sale of town-owned land he wished to buy, then privately purchasing that land from the town when it was publicly auctioned. Walker paid a $5,000 civil penalty in a Disposition Agreement approved by the State Ethics Commission on June 20 and waived his right to contest the Commission’s findings.

Shortly after moving back to his childhood home, a farm in New Braintree, in 2003, Walker became interested in acquiring adjacent parcels of land, which were part of the original Walker family farm more than a century ago. The town had taken two of the adjacent parcels in tax-title in 1998 for nonpayment of taxes by the previous owner and had foreclosed on the parcels in February 2007. Before the foreclosure, Walker twice made efforts to purchase the land, which contained a water source he sought to protect for his farm.

Around the time Walker was elected to the Select Board in 2013, the town considered auctioning certain parcels of town-owned land – including the parcels adjacent to Walker’s farm – to raise revenue. The conflict of interest law prohibits municipal employees from participating in any matter in which they know they have a financial interest so that governmental decisions are not influenced by the private financial interests of the public employees making them. Knowing he was interested in buying the two parcels of land and preserving the water source for his farm, Walker violated the conflict of interest law when he participated as a Select Board member in discussions about the land auction, then voted to authorize the auction.

In 2016, Walker won the auction with a winning bid of $35,000. He took ownership of the land the following month. Walker’s purchase of the land while a Select Board member violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against municipal employees contracting with their municipalities, which protects against city and town employees having an “inside track” to municipal contracts.

The State Ethics Commission is charged with civilly enforcing the conflict of interest law, G.L. c. 268A.  When three or more of the Commission’s five members vote to find reasonable cause to believe a public employee has violated the law, they can also authorize adjudicatory proceedings to determine whether the violation occurred.  The public employee then has the opportunity to enter into a public disposition agreement rather than exercising his or her right to a hearing. 

The Commission encourages public employees to contact the Commission’s Legal Division at 617-371-9500 for free advice if they have any questions regarding how the conflict of interest law may apply to them.

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