State reviewing ethics complaint

NORTH READING -- The state Ethics Commission is looking into whether the chairman of the North Reading Conservation Commission violated conflict-of-interest laws by not recusing himself from votes that involved a local lawyer who rents him space in an office the two men share.

Conservation Commission member Paul Dick said he has filed a complaint about chairman Martin Weiss and has been dealing with the Ethics Commission's enforcement division.

After Dick's complaint, Weiss formally disclosed to selectmen last month that attorney James Senior has rented him the 10-by-10-foot office at 348 Park St. for the past seven years.

Weiss, who has been on the commission for 15 years and was elected chairman last month, said until Dick raised the issue of his business relationship with Senior, he never believed he was required to disclose the relationship nor recuse himself from any votes or debates on matters involving Senior.

''I gave the selectmen a disclosure because they asked for it, but I don't think I needed to do it now or in the past," Weiss said. ''Everyone on the commission and the selectmen knew about it when I moved my office from Boston and it wasn't an issue. I can only figure that the reason certain people are making this an issue now is that they don't like that I oppose restrictive regulation."

Weiss said his business relationship with Senior has never affected his votes on the commission. And Senior, who represents clients trying to get favorable decisions on development issues before the commission, said being Weiss's landlord has given him no advantage.

''There have been several [decisions] where he has voted in a way I didn't like," Senior said.

Dick, who has been on the commission since 1997, said he raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest because of rumors swirling around the commission following a series of appointments by selectmen that Dick and others in town see as political.

Dick said he objected to the appointments last year of James Demetri and Timothy Allen and was particularly upset when associate commissioner David Long was passed over for a full membership on the commission earlier this year.

''People were telling me that the commission had become a joke," Dick said.

Marci Bailey, who served as chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen when the Conservation Commission appointments were made, said the board brought in Demetri and Allen last summer because the two men favored less restrictive policies on wetlands development issues.

''At the time we were dealing with these vacancies, the Conservation Commission was considering a major change in setback regulations, which would have been detrimental to developers as well as homeowners," Bailey said. ''Jim and Tim were chosen to bring balance to the board."

Bailey said selectmen elevated Kathleen Legere, an associate member, to full membership on the commission this year instead of Long because they believed Legere was better qualified.

Dick, who visited the Park Street office, said that because Weiss and Senior share a secretary, a copy machine, and a fax machine, it appears that they have the type of business relationship that the state's ethics law cautions against because it suggests a public official might be under undue pressure to play favorites.

''The law speaks of what a reasonable person would consider to be an appearance of impropriety," Dick said. ''What if Senior didn't like one of Weiss's votes? Wouldn't Weiss be just a little concerned he might get kicked out of his office?"

Dick said that looking back at the minutes of past meetings, he is convinced that at least on a few occasions Weiss voted in a way that gave Senior's client a more favorable ruling. He pointed to a commission vote last August to allow one of Senior's clients to build a road across a wetland even though the commission had been advised by its wetlands expert to delay the vote until he could further examine the situation. Weiss was one of three commissioners voting to approve the road.

Weiss said he recalled that at least one expert had concluded it was OK to build the road and a majority of the commissioners accepted that opinion.

After Dick raised his concerns, selectmen told Weiss to put the question to Darren Klein, town attorney.

In a May 31 letter to Weiss, Klein said that as long as Weiss is paying market rate for the space and has disclosed the business relationship to the selectmen, ''you may fully participate in matters before the Conservation Commission in which applicants are represented by Attorney Senior."

Klein did not address Dick's issue with Weiss's past votes, however, because Klein said Weiss did not ask him to rule on the past participation.

Klein said he has forwarded a copy of his opinion to the legal division of the state Ethics Commission, which will render its own opinion in 30 days. But Dick said he has been dealing with the commission's enforcement division, which investigates allegations and can levy fines.

Peter Sturges, executive director of the Ethics Commission, would not comment on the case.

He said in cases where the commission verifies a conflict of interest, it can forbid the public official from participating in the debate or voting on matters involving his business associates or family members. The commission also can issue fines of up to $2,000 for each past violation.

Dick said he has had multiple conversations with Scott Cole, a chief investigator in the Ethics Commission's enforcement division, and is confident the state agency is taking his concerns seriously. He added he will abide by whatever decision the Ethics Commission hands down.

''If they say he can continue because he has now made the disclosure, there isn't anything I can do about that," Dick said. ''But for the integrity of the commission and the important work we do, I think this had to be addressed."

Caroline Louise Cole can be reached at cole@globe.com.