Michele Morgan Bolton of the Boston Globe reports that Jack Scott, president of Pine Creek Development Corp., was accused last week of violating state law by allegedly offering a free week at his Pennsylvania cabin to the chairman of the town’s Conservation Commission while he had an application before the board: Developer Accused of Ethics Breach.
According to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission’s press release:
The Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division, in an Order to Show Cause issued on November 18, 2008, alleges that Norfolk property developer Jack Scott violated sections 2(a) and 3(a) of G.L. c. 268A, the state’s conflict of interest law, by offering a free week at his Pennsylvania cabin to the chairman of the Norfolk Conservation Commission (“ConCom”) while Scott had an application pending before the ConCom.
A public hearing will be scheduled within 90 days.
According to the Order to Show Cause, in May 2006, Scott filed an application with the ConCom to build a single-family home on Applewood Road. On May 12, 2006, while his application was pending, Scott sent an e-mail to the ConCom chairman offering a week’s stay at his cabin. A week’s stay at the cabin cost an estimated $700. The OTSC alleges that, “Scott offered the weeklong cabin stay to the ConCom chair to facilitate and/or reward the ConCom chair for the ConCom’s approval” of his application. The ConCom chairman did not accept Scott’s offer.
Section 2(a) of G.L. c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, in relevant part, prohibits anyone from corruptly offering anything of value to a municipal employee with intent to influence any official act or act within his official responsibility. Section 3(a) prohibits anyone, otherwise than as provided by law for the proper discharge of official duty, from directly or indirectly offering anything of substantial value to any municipal employee for or because of any official act performed or to be performed by such an employee.
The Boston Globe story