Former Middlesex retirement official to pay $12K in conflict of interest case

By Globe Staff

A former Middlesex Retirement Board member has admitted violating the state's conflict of interest law by improperly awarding a friend a building renovation contract for the board's headquarters, the State Ethics Commission said today.

Lawrence P. Driscoll also violated the law while on the board by voting to hire his friend as the Billerica headquarters facilities manager and submitting reimbursement requests for conferences he did not attend and personal expenses, the commission said.

Driscoll agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty and a civil forfeiture of $2,683, the commission said in a statement. He also repaid $2,437 of the $5,120 in expenses for which he requested reimbursement.

The commission said Driscoll had failed to disclose his friendship with the contractor who was awarded the $557,000 contract.

"Public employees who have private friendships that overlap with their public duties need to perform their public duties fairly and objectively and disclose those personal relationships to avoid creating an actual or apparent conflict of interest," said Karen L. Nober, executive director of the commission.

"It also goes without saying that public monies may not be used to reimburse personal expenses," she said.

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