Ethics Complaints Filed Against Mayor, Councilor

A local state representative has filed ethics complaints against Concord’s mayor and mayor pro temp suggesting both had conflicts of interests in targeting a city councilor during a recent censure action.

State Rep. , D-Concord, filed the complaints with the Concord City Clerk’s Office on April 2. In the complaints, Watrous accused both Concord Mayor and at-large City Councilor , who is also an executive councilor, of engaging in “improper activities and ethics violations” in their dealings with the reprimand of Ward 8 City Councilor , who had contacted a police officer about a traffic ticket that a friend had received.

In the complaints, Watrous stated that Bouley failed to appoint a to review the matter; that Bouley and St. Hilaire failed to disclose personal financial or other interests in matters that came before them; that they both failed to hold a public hearing in the bodies that they presided over, as required by the city’s ethics ordinance; and claimed that their actions and remarks concerning Patten were inconsistent with their previous actions.

The complaint against Bouley noted that his partnership at the lobbying firm could be seen as a conflict since he derived income from a firm that had deep connections to Republican politicians while reprimanding Patten, who is also a Democratic state representative.

The complaint against St. Hilaire stated that he was a paid executive councilor who is also a “high profile Republican” at the , “the center of intense political battles in which both these men take part.” St. Hilaire may have a financial or other interest in acting against Patten, the complaint stated.

The complaints cited two definitions in the code of ethics that could be considered violations since neither Bouley nor St. Hilaire disclosed the potential conflicts or recused themselves from the reprimand activity.

Watrous requested that the Board of Ethics take up the matter.

A new ethics ordinance and Board of Ethics proposal were both approved by the city council in September 2011. The board, however, has yet to be seated, according to officials. Bouley, who will nominate most of the people who will be seated on the ethics board, has not publicly commented on why after six months no one had been seated to the board.

In an interview, Watrous said he was filing the complaints because he was “outraged by the lack of process in how they treated Dick Patten, especially after the city council had created the board of ethics to handle this thing last summer.”

Watrous said the Patten flap should have been heard by the Board of Ethics, not the Rules Committee. The ethics board, he said, “takes it out of the political realm” because there are no councilors sitting on that board. Watrous said the ethics board would have 45 days to review the complaint against Patten, and then decide to proceed. The board would also have held a public hearing. Watrous said neither the Rules Committee nor the Concord City Council held a public hearing.

“Essentially, it was a closed process,” he said. “There was no opportunity for public input. Even Councilor Patten didn’t get a chance to speak until after they had already printed up the reprimand. I’ve seen it too often in Concord. They make up the rules as they go along, and apply the rules differently to different people.”

Watrous added that the censure of Patten failed to clarify what is and isn’t acceptable for city councilors.

“The mayor, in his public finger-wagging at Councilor Patten, made a point that Councilor Patten had made this call for a benefit of a friend but not a constituent,” he said. “So is it OK to make this call for a constituent? And where do people get reprimanded for communication with a police officer? Where is it written in the city rules that anyone can’t communicate with an officer?”

Bouley was out of town and unable to comment on the ethics complaint.

St. Hilaire didn’t respond to an email request to discuss the issue.