City councilor's abuse of power

Michael P. Ross illegally used his power as a Boston city councilor to have 35 parking tickets dismissed, the State Ethics Commission has concluded.

Ross repeatedly broke a state law forbidding municipal employees from using their positions for personal gain and was fined $2,000 for the offenses, according to a settlement agreement announced yesterday.

The councilor received the citations, which carried about $1,000 in fines, between January 2002 and February 2006 for failing to pay parking meter fees and parking in resident-only spaces -- largely in Beacon Hill, where Ross had an apartment -- without a resident parking permit.

The city allows councilors to have parking tickets dismissed if they received the tickets while on official business. Ross had 105 tickets dismissed, but the commission found that he was not working when he received 35 of them.

"Elected officials are in office to serve the public, not themselves," the commission's executive director, Peter Sturges, said in a statement yesterday. "The privileges that they receive because of their duties and responsibilities may not be used for personal benefit."

Ross, who represents Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and Mission Hill, declined to be interviewed yesterday, but released a statement saying he had been careless and takes full responsibility for the illegal ticket dismissal.

"This was a regrettable error, and I recognize that I have a responsibility to ensure that my own actions are held to a higher standard," Ross wrote. "I have since corrected and settled this matter and have learned from this process."

City officials said Ross has reimbursed the city $1,000 for the tickets and paid the $2,000 Ethics Commission fine.

The Ethics Commission findings prompted calls yesterday from Council President Maureen E. Feeney and the Boston Municipal Research Bureau for a review to determine whether other councilors have abused the privilege and whether the policy should be rescinded.

"At this point, we need to take a hard look at it and see if it is something that should be revisited," Feeney said.

Under the policy, councilors who want tickets dismissed must first fill out and sign a form at the Boston Transportation Department, listing their license plate numbers. The form states that councilors can have tickets dismissed only for failing to pay parking fees at meters and parking in residents-only spaces without a resident permit.

City transportation officials said they approved the policy in 2000, after Council President James M. Kelly said councilors were being cited unfairly for parking violations when they attended night meetings in neighborhoods they represented.

Since then, councilors have had 156 tickets, carrying a total of $4,820 in fines and late fees, dismissed under the policy, including Ross's 105, which totaled $3,668, according to city records.

Councilor John M. Tobin of West Roxbury had 21 tickets with $553 in fines dismissed; Councilor Rob Consalvo of Hyde Park had five dismissed; Councilor at Large Stephen Murphy had two dismissed; and Feeney and Councilor Chuck Turner of Roxbury had one each dismissed.

The dismissals included tickets for Kelly, who died this month . He had three tickets thrown out. Former councilor Paul Scapicchio had 18 violations dismissed with a total of $465 in fines and late fees.

The Transportation commissioner, Thomas J. Tinlin, said yesterday that he did not believe the policy should be thrown out because one councilor abused the privilege.

"I don't think it's fair to throw the baby out with the bath water when you have one hitch in the program," Tinlin said.

The Ethics Commission began investigating Ross's ticket dismissals in June 2006 and concluded six weeks later that there was "reasonable cause to believe" that Ross had violated the conflict-of-interest law, the commission's settlement agreement states.

Ross agreed to settle the case Jan. 17. The commisson's executive director signed the settlement and released it to the public yesterday.

Records show 61 of the 105 tickets Ross had dismissed were within six blocks of the apartment he rented until last year on Garden Street in Beacon Hill. Of those tickets, which levied $2,152 in fines, 43 were issued between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m., most in the morning.

A few were issued after midnight, including one at 3 a.m. Ross's former apartment is about eight blocks from City Hall, where each councilor has a free parking space in the building's garage.

"In light of the problem that Michael has encountered in distinguishing the legitimate work tickets from other tickets, this seems to be an appropriate time to review whether this is a policy that should continue," said Samuel Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-funded city watchdog.

April Simpson of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com; Matt Viser at maviser@globe.com.