Water chief resigns
Hannigan denies any illegal actions
Rockland officials are hoping the resignation last week of embattled Water Commissioner Thomas W. Hannigan will remove a taint on the town and clear the way for pending capital projects.
Hannigan - who the state inspector general's office accused this year of funneling $27,000 in kickbacks to a town official - submitted a letter to Town Hall on Tuesday. He denied he did anything illegal but said his resignation was needed to remove politics from the business of the town's Board of Water Commissioners.
"Due to recent events. . . it is apparent that the important work of the Commission is being diverted, as a result of personal attacks against me," he said. "As a lifelong resident of Rockland, I have no interest in allowing the goals and objectives of the Commission to be lost in order to defend my name."
Hannigan did not return a call for comment on his resignation. For the last few months, he has refused to publicly address the charges against him, although he did, in a Globe interview in February, deny doing anything illegal. He said he thought the money was for charity.
Hannigan's resignation Tuesday fol lowed a unanimous "no-confidence" vote Monday by selectmen.
"We decided as a board it was time to take action, and we took action as a group," said James Simpson, chairman of the selectmen.
Hannigan's resignation will allow the town to move forward, Simpson said. "This now sort of cleans the slate and allows the town to get back to business."
Selectman Michael Zupkofska, one of Hannigan's top critics who was spearheading a recall of the commissioner, said the resignation call was part of an effort to hold Hannigan accountable.
"We may not be able to control the actions of those who would cheat our taxpayers and cause harm to our town's name," Zupkofska said, "but we can as residents get together for the good of our town and make a difference."
Officials have been calling for Hannigan to resign since the report from the inspector general's office in January alleged that, starting in 2000, he was a "conduit for kickbacks" between the town's former sewer superintendent and a contractor doing work for the town. Town officials called him a disgrace, said he should answer to the allegations or step down, and said the allegations tainted town government. They were further outraged when the Board of Water Commissioners elected Hannigan as its chairman.
Selectmen's no-confidence vote Monday applied to all three water commissioners. Selectmen also asked the water commissioners to reverse their vote, and again asked Hannigan to resign.
Over the past several weeks, selectmen had pressured Hannigan in less-direct ways. They revoked the special employee status for the water commissioners as a way to prevent them, particularly Hannigan, from doing outside work for the town.
The inspector general's report alleges Hannigan was a "conduit for kickbacks" between the former sewer superintendent, Gregory Thomson, and a Dracut-based construction firm that was doing work for his department. Thomson was convicted in 2004 on unrelated embezzlement charges and served 18 months in jail. He has not responded to requests for comment. The construction company, Albanese Brothers Inc., also has not responded to calls for comment.
No one was charged in the incident because the timeline for prosecution expired under the state statute of limitations. The inspector general's office has asked the state Department of Revenue to investigate whether those involved reported the kickbacks as income.
But the town had little success in persuading Hannigan to publicly answer to the charges. Before his resignation, he told the Globe that he would let voters decide.
William T. Low, a water commissioner and chairman before Hannigan took the post, said the recent succession of Hannigan as chairman should not be seen as support for his actions. Rather, he said, the commission was simply following protocol, since it always elects as chairman the member serving the last year of his term.
But he said that Hannigan's resignation will now allow the town, and the board, to move forward. "He caused a black mark on the Water Department," Low said. "What he went through, I would have resigned a long time ago."
Milton J. Valencia can be reached at valencia@globe.com. 