Ethics panel hunting cronyism at library
Ousted president accused Menino
The State Ethics Commission has opened an investigation of Mayor Thomas M. Menino to determine if he illegally ordered the head of the city's public library system to hire certain people, ostensibly for political favors, according to a senior public official with knowledge of the probe.
Word of the investigation was included in a letter from Boston Public Library president Bernard A. Margolis to library trustees as he requested legal representation for himself and any subordinates who are summoned to appear before the commission.
Margolis, in an interview with the Globe on Nov. 13, hours after trustees decided not to renew his contract, said mayoral aides instructed him to rig the library's hiring process so that certain candidates would receive jobs.
If true, that kind of pressure could be deemed by the State Ethics Commission to be in violation of Massachusetts' conflict of interest law, which prohibits public officials from using their positions to secure "unwarranted privileges" for themselves or others that are "not properly available to similarly situated individuals," according to commission guidelines. Public of ficials can be fined up to $2,000 per offense.
Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Menino, acknowledged yesterday that city officials are aware of an investigation, but said the ethics board had not formally notified the mayor or indicated that he is a subject of any review. Joyce said Menino was not involved with hiring requests at the library.
"The mayor never had any conversations with Bernie regarding jobs at the library, and if anyone else did he had no knowledge of it," Joyce said.
When he made the allegations in his interview with the Globe, Margolis declined to specify how many people the mayor's aides had allegedly told him to hire, who got jobs, or which aides gave the orders. Yesterday, he again declined to elaborate.
The State Ethics Commission launches investigations of public officials when its enforcement division determines that information received by the agency - whether in complaints from individuals or in documents, including news reports - suggests violations of state law may have occurred, according to guidelines on the commission's website.
If the investigation produces reasonable cause to believe the violations occurred, the commissioners can vote to authorize a more formal inquiry, in which the agency has subpoena power to compel testimony under oath and can result in formal charges and fines of officials.
The Boston Public Library trustees voted Nov. 13 not to renew the contract for Margolis, who has spent a decade at the helm of the Boston Public Library system. His current contract expires June 30. The mayor and his aides said at the time that Margolis paid too much attention to the main library in Copley Square and not enough to the 27 branch libraries in the city's neighborhoods.
In his wide-ranging interview with the Globe within hours of the trustees' vote, Margolis accused Menino of having an "anti-intellectual" bent, ordering him to hire selected individuals, and running the city as if it were an authoritarian state. "I didn't think this was Venezuela," Margolis said at the time.
Several high-profile members of Menino's administration have left in recent years and not all departed on the best of terms, but Margolis is the first to publicly criticize Menino on the way out.
An official from the State Ethics Commission contacted Margolis last week, indicating the commission is investigating the allegations against Menino, according to the official with knowledge of the probe, and Margolis notified library trustees about the inquiry in a letter Nov. 20, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by the Globe yesterday. In the letter, Margolis asked for legal representation for himself and any other library employees the commission seeks to interview.
Ethics Commission officials declined to comment, citing a commission policy of not discussing open cases.
"I cannot confirm or deny that the commission has received any allegations or is conducting an investigation," said David Wilson, acting executive director of the commission.
There is no record of previous action against Menino listed on the commission's website.
Andrea Estes of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. 