Parking ticket scam is uncovered

Seven city workers were suspended yesterday, including the manager of Mayor Thomas M. Menino's 2001 reelection campaign, after police uncovered a widespread scam in which parking tickets given to municipal employees were routinely fixed.

In addition, two parking hearing officers who worked for the city on a contract basis have been fired and the city plans to hire an outside consulting firm to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the department.

Peter C. O'Sullivan, director of Menino's street furniture program, had 15 parking tickets totaling $808 dismissed without cause or even a hearing, according to City Hall officials.

The second biggest offender was Michael Kelley, the former campaign manager who now works on the city's Rental Housing Resource Center. He had 13 tickets totaling $564 dismissed, the officials said.

The five other employees, whose names and job titles were not disclosed, had a total of eight parking tickets dismissed, they said.

All the employees were suspended one day without pay for each fixed ticket, the officials said. In addition, the tickets were reinstated, and the employees were required to pay any late penalties that had accrued.

"They used poor judgment," Menino said in a telephone interview late yesterday. "Very poor judgment. They're city employees who are held to a different standard. They're wrong, and they'll be held accountable."

Attempts to reach both O'Sullivan and Kelley at work early yesterday evening were unsuccessful.

An investigation into the city's famously aggressive parking enforcement office began about a month ago, when ranking officials were tipped that a hearing officer was dismissing tickets on her own vehicle.

That hearing officer, whom city officials did not identify, was fired on the spot, and a quick review was begun, according to Andrea d'Amato, Boston's transportation commissioner. When a similar case popped up two weeks later, City Hall asked that a police detective investigate.

By last week, the detective had determined that Hayley Snaddon, a parking hearing officer under contract with the city, was regularly dismissing the tickets of municipal employees without so much as a hearing.

"She was trying to do favors for people," d'Amato said. "In our view, you don't do that, on any end. As a hearing officer, her obligation is to conduct a hearing and dismiss if it's warranted."

City officials said there is no evidence Snaddon was receiving anything in return for fixing the tickets.

Typically, drivers who are given parking tickets can either pay them or petition for a hearing within 21 days of the ticket date. Some tickets can be appealed by mail "if supporting statement(s) and any necessary documentation" is included, according to the front of the bright-orange parking citations.

Those who request a hearing are randomly assigned an appearance before a hearing officer. In the case of the seven employees, hearings were never scheduled. The tickets were dismissed by Snaddon without cause or argument, according to d'Amato.

Snaddon has since been dismissed, officials said. No criminal charges have been filed, and none are planned, according to Menino and d'Amato. Snaddon could not be immediately reached late yesterday.

Kelley took the title of campaign manager in Menino's overwhelming reelection victory in 2001, but those close to the campaign said he was more of an administrator than a policy-maker and strategist. Like O'Sullivan, he has held a number of jobs in various City Hall departments. Both began their careers in the mayor's neighborhood services office.

O'Sullivan now runs the street furniture program, which involves the new bus shelters, new public toilets, and street signs, much of which has arrived in Boston years after it was expected.

"These are young kids, making a mistake so early in their careers," Menino said. "I think the punishment is sufficient. The public has to have confidence in us. With acts like this, you lose some of their confidence."