Bouley Hires Former Concord Mayor to Fight Complaints

The Concord’s is scheduled to meet at noon today to nominate and elect chairperson for the board as well as review and discuss all the complaints it has received through June 19.

Currently, the board has five complaints to eye: Two against Mayor , two against At-Large City Councilor , and one against Ward 2 City Councilor .

and St. Hilaire are facing complaints filed by state Rep. , D-Concord, who accused them of engaging in improper activities and ethics violation as it related to their dealings with the reprimand of Ward 8 City Councilor earlier this year in a . In the complaint, Watrous stated that Bouley and St. Hilaire ; 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. Watrous also filed complaints against for after the complaints were lodged against him and against St. Hilaire for .

Kretovic is facing a complaint filed by , who also sought the Ward 2 council seat in November 2011, and lost by 11 votes. In the complaint, Herschlag asked the board to investigate , the organization previously known as Main Street Concord, her former employer.

Donovan does the talking

To fight his ethics charges, Bouley enlisted former Concord Mayor , who submitted 17 pages worth of briefs, comments, and minutes to the board for consideration.

On the first complaint, Donovan stated that the city solicitor advised that the Patten situation fell under Article 15 of the city charter, not the board of ethics. Since Patten’s attempt to help his friend with the ticket was not driven by a financial interest or objectivity over a council vote, it was not a violation of the code of ethics.

“Thus, even if the Board of Ethics had been appointed at the time, it would not have had jurisdiction over the matter,” Donovan wrote.

Since the charter provides no specific procedures, the matter was referred to the Rules Committee, he stated.

Addressing the conflict claim that Bouley had a “financial or other interest” since he worked for a Republican and Patten was a Democrat, Donovan called the allegation “false, frivolous and made in bad faith,” noting that most people knew that Bouley, his father, another lobbyist, and his wife, are life-long Democrats and that the firm represents both Democrats and Republicans.

“Three of the five employees in the firm are Democrats,” Donovan stated.

Donovan also challenged the need for a public hearing during Patten’s censure, citing the previous determination by the city solicitor that it was a charter issue and not an ethics issue, so the hearing was not required. He also stated that the strong rebuke by Bouley of Patten was not inconsistent and, instead, “reflects the leadership expected of the Mayor of our city.”

In the second filing, addressing ethics complaint that the mayor’s Board of Ethics nominations had come after charges were filed, Donovan said the “speculative inference” of the complaint was that Bouley delayed making nominations for several months and then rushed to nominate people who would be favorable to him after the ethics charges were filed against him. He called the delay accusation, which was about seven months, “a red herring,” since there were no ethics complaints filed during the seven months there were no board members named. Donovan said the delay needed to be “put it (sic) context,” since the job of mayor is not full-time and requires many responsibilities.

“The Mayor nominates the members of 25 boards, committees and commissions --- approximately 230 people in all,” Donovan stated. “While important, the nominations of persons to boards and commissions is but one of the many duties the mayor must manage to get done in his or her busy life.”

Donovan called it a most difficult responsibility and not an easy one. The fact that the nominations were made a few weeks after the filing of the first ethics complaint “is nothing more than a coincidence,” he said. Donovan stated that Bouley did not discuss the complaint with anyone who was considering for nomination and stated, in bold text, “it is an insult to the integrity of the three board members who Mayor Bouley nominated for the complainant to infer that they would be influenced in their decision” on the complaint.

St. Hilaire: Complaints are moot

St. Hilaire filed his own three-page brief. In it, he stated that when he voted for the members of the Board of Ethics “no violation exists.” According to St. Hilaire, under state law, the ordinance only applies to councilors elected after the effective date of the ordinance. He also didn’t appoint or recommend any of the members. When the vote was retaken, St. Hilaire noted that he abstained, “thereby making the complaint moot.”

As far as the financial issue goes, St. Hilaire claimed that none existed, but did not give any specifics. He also claimed he followed all applicable rules and procedures during the Rules Committee investigation of Patten. St. Hilaire said on the issue of the lack of a public hearing, he stated that the Rules Committee recommended a reprimand and not a removal hearing.

“Only the full Council may hold a hearing to remove one of its members – not the Rules Committee,” he said.

On the bias issue, St. Hilaire denied bias existed and said since Watrous did not state what the inconsistency was, “I cannot respond to the vague misperception based only on the subjective opinion of Mr. Watrous.”

St. Hilaire added that Concord City Council was a nonpartisan body and he couldn’t recall an instance when members of either political party acted in a partisan view. He said he and Patten knew each other before they both held elected office and Patten could have asked that St. Hilaire be recused if he thought there bias, something he didn’t do.

Kretovic denies conflict

In a two page filing, Kretovic said she was “innocent of any wrongdoing” in the claim. She said it had been four years since she was employed by Main Street Concord, where there had been staff turnover, a change in the organization’s name, and its mission. Kretovic said she had nothing to gain financially from the vote on the line item.

Even though she was convinced she was not in conflict, Kretovic stated that there could be an appearance of conflict, which is why she sought the opinion of Bouley and councilors as to whether or not she should recuse herself.

“It was ruled there was no conflict,” she noted, adding that if she were prevented in voting for the project or for Intown Concord line items, “I would be prevented from representing the interests of my constituents, who knowingly voted me as their representatives.”

Kretovic added, “I believe the board needs to send a clear message to my former opponent. His attempt to hijack the Council will not be tolerated.”

The Board of Ethics meets at noon on Wednesday, July 11, in the City Council Chambers of City Hall on 37 Green St. Concord NH Patch will have updates from the meeting on Twitter, Facebook, and after the meeting is completed.