Order  Final Order in the Matter of Charles Carroll

Date:	02/22/2021
Organization:	State Ethics Commission
Docket Number:	20-0008
Referenced Sources:	G.L. c. 268A, the Conflict of Interest Law, as Amended by c. 194, Acts of 2011

Final Order

On February 12, 2021, the parties filed a Joint Motion to Dismiss (“Joint Motion”) with a proposed Disposition Agreement requesting that the Commission approve the Disposition Agreement in settlement of this matter and dismiss the adjudicatory proceeding. The Presiding Officer, Josefina Martinez referred the Joint Motion, with the Disposition Agreement, to the full Commission for deliberations on February 18, 2021.

In the proposed Disposition Agreement, Respondent Charles Carroll admits that he violated G.L. c. 268A, § 19 by participating as a Planning Board member in the Board’s decisions whether to submit warrant articles to rezone portions of Patriots Road/Route 2A when his father, an immediate family member, had to his knowledge a financial interest in the matters because the proposed zoning change would have rezoned Carroll’s father’s property from the Residential-Agricultural-2 zone to the Highway Business zone.¹

The Respondent agrees to pay a civil penalty of $1,500 and to waive all rights to contest the findings of fact, conclusions of law and terms and conditions contained in the Disposition Agreement in this and any other administrative or judicial proceeding to which the Commission is or may be a party. Respondent has tendered the payment of the $1,500 civil penalty. 

In support of the Joint Motion, the parties assert that this matter would be fairly and equitably resolved by the terms set forth in in the Disposition Agreement and that this resolution would obviate the need for a hearing on any factual issues, saving time and resources for all involved. The parties assert that the interests of justice, the parties and the Commission will be served by the Disposition Agreement. 

WHEREFORE, the Commission hereby ALLOWS the Motion. Respondent’s tendered payment of the $1,500 civil penalty for violating G.L. c. 268A, § 19 is accepted. Commission Adjudicatory Docket No. 20-0008, In the Matter of Charles Carroll is DISMISSED.

 

DATE AUTHORIZED:   February 18, 2021

DATE ISSUED:             February 22, 2021

 

1.  G.L. c. 268A, § 19, prohibits a municipal employee from participating as such an employee in a particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he or an immediate family member has a financial interest.