Press Release  State Ethics Commission Finds Former Berkley Planning Board Member Christopher Hicks Violated Conflict of Interest Law

Boston, MA — The State Ethics Commission has issued a Final Decision and Order finding that former Berkley Planning Board Member Christopher Hicks violated the conflict of interest law by failing to fulfill the statute’s education and training requirements in 2018 and 2019. The Commission ordered Hicks to pay a $2,000 civil penalty.

The conflict of interest law requires that all public employees, including municipal board members, receive a written summary of the law and sign a written acknowledgement that they have received the summary within 30 days of becoming a public employee and every year thereafter. The law also requires that all public employees complete the Commission’s conflict of interest law online training program within 30 days of becoming a public employee and every two years thereafter.

Hicks was elected to the Berkley Planning Board in May 2018. The Berkley Town Clerk provided Hicks with a written summary of the conflict of interest law at his swearing-in as a Planning Board member and notified him that he was required to sign an acknowledgement that he received the summary and to complete the Commission’s online conflict of interest law training program. After Hicks failed to acknowledge his receipt of the summary of the law or complete the online training, the Commission’s Public Education Division repeatedly sought Hicks’ compliance with the law to no avail.

The Commission’s Enforcement Division filed an Order to Show Cause against Hicks on July 22, 2020, initiating an adjudicatory proceeding against him. Hicks failed to file an answer to the Order to Show Cause, attend a pre-hearing conference, or attend hearings on September 16 and October 15. In a Decision and Order issued October 20, the Commission allowed the Enforcement Division’s Motion for Summary Decision and provided Hicks an opportunity to provide any mitigating facts that would justify reduction of a $2,000 civil penalty. Hicks did not respond.

Hicks’ sole engagement in the Commission adjudicatory proceeding was to send an email to the Enforcement Division on August 25, 2020, in which he stated he had resigned from the Planning Board and to which he attached an online training completion certificate and an acknowledgement that he had received the summary of the law, each dated August 2, 2020. The Final Decision and Order states that Hicks’ compliance with the law more than two years after joining the Planning Board does not excuse his failure to fulfill the training requirements during the time he served on the board, nor does it excuse him from responding to or appearing before the Commission when required to do so.

As stated in the Final Decision and Order, the goal of the conflict of interest law’s training and education requirements is to educate public employees about their obligations under the law and to prevent various forms of corruption in public service. “Disregard of our agency’s educational requirements undermines our mission of preserving integrity in public service. We cannot allow public employees to thumb their noses at these requirements,” the Final Decision and Order states.

The issuance of the Final Decision and Order concludes the Commission’s adjudicatory proceeding against Hicks. Hicks has 30 days within which to pay the civil penalty or file an appeal in the Superior Court.

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.

###