Haley ordered to pay $10,000 fine

Aquinnah select board member violated conflict of interest law.

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Aquinnah select board member Gary Haley has run afoul of the state ethics commission. — Lucas Thors

Updated 4:20 pm

An Aquinnah select board member was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for choosing himself to do town work, and then approving the payment he received from the town, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the state panel.

Gary Haley had maintained his innocence, though it was never in doubt that he did the work on conduits near the Aquinnah Cliffs.

Haley did not respond to a request for comment, and instead issued a statement through his attorney, Richard Gross, saying that while Haley disagrees with the decision reached by the state Ethics Commission, he will accept the decision and drop his right to appeal it within 30 days to Superior Court.

During a hearing in June, Haley testified that he did the work to help the town, and not to make money. “I think the town of Aquinnah is the greatest town in the world, and I’ll help them out in any way that I possibly can. Not only myself but other people in town,” Haley testified during that hearing. He told the commission it was not uncommon for Aquinnah residents to offer volunteer services to the town. 

Haley also said he was using his own machines, and needed to pull in two assistants from a previous project on Lighthouse Road. 

“There was no help in town, nobody wanted to work,” Haley testified in June. The work was also done around late spring, so schools were not out yet. Hiring students or summer help was out. Haley told the panel he paid the two assistants with cash. “I told them from the beginning that’s what the deal was, and the only way I can get stuff done in Aquinnah, when need be, is to pay by cash.”

The final decision by the state Ethics Commission found that Haley violated the conflict of interest law by selecting himself to install underground conduits for utility wires, and then approving a $17,445 invoice for the work. Haley was ordered to pay the $10,000 civil penalty, the release states. 

“In spring 2018, the town and three utility companies were involved in a project to remove overhead wires at Aquinnah Circle and bury them underground. When two of the companies were unable to install the underground conduits for their wires in the trench opened for that purpose, Haley, a master electrician, told the town administrator that he would perform the work for the town for free,” the release states. “As a select board member, Haley was the town administrator’s boss.”

The release goes on to state that on the first day of the job, Haley learned that the electrical utility’s contractor, who was placing the electrical conduits at the bottom of the trench, was not going to place a layer of sand over them, needed before Haley could install the two other companies’ telecommunications conduits above them in the trench. “Without consulting the town, Haley decided that he would do this additional work and seek payment from the town for it,” the release states. “Haley later billed the town $17,445 for the work, and, as a select board member, approved an expense warrant that included his invoice.”

According to the ethics commission, the state’s conflict of interest law prohibits municipal employees from participating in their official capacity in matters in which they know they have a financial interest. “The commission found that Haley violated this prohibition when, as a select board member, he decided that he would install the conduits, unilaterally decided that the town would be charged for the work, determined on his own what the payment to himself would be, and then signed off on the town’s payment to himself,” the release states.

The commission found that Haley did not violate the section of the law that prohibits municipal employees from contracting with their town, because no contract was ever created. “Observing that Haley had done an ‘end run around’ the prohibition,” the commission concluded, “However objectionable this conduct might be, it did not create a contract,” but stated, “We do not condone this conduct any more than we could condone a violation.”

The commission also found it was not established that Haley submitted “a false or fraudulent claim” for payment for 22 hours for work by him and two laborers. “Although the evidence raised questions regarding whether two laborers Haley claimed to have paid performed the work or whether other workers did this work without receiving pay from Haley, the commission found it was not proved that the town did not receive 22 hours of work by two laborers,” the release states.

“Gary is pleased that the commission correctly found he did not commit fraud on the town by submitting a false invoice, and that the commission acknowledged that he had made no contract with the town when he volunteered to respond to an emergency at Aquinnah Circle,” according to the statement. “But he disagrees with the finding that he had a financial interest in a matter with the town. If he had no contract, he could not have violated the allegation that he had an ‘effective contract with the town.’ He also vigorously disputes that he had any actual or imputed knowledge that he was approving his own invoice, since he expected it to be placed before the voters at a town meeting, and not in an ordinary expense warrant.”

The statement goes on to say that Haley will accept the commission’s ruling. “This matter has been pending for over four years, and Gary will accept the decision and put it behind him. He did work in good faith as a volunteer to respond to an emergency at Aquinnah Circle in the weeks before the tourist season commenced in Aquinnah. The conduct of Eversource’s contractors required him to spend an enormous amount of time and to hire two additional laborers to do the job he volunteered to do. He only sought payment when the cost of this work greatly exceeded what he had volunteered to do. And he expected the town voters to approve payment for this work in the best interests of the town. He will continue to serve his town.”

When The Times reached out to Aquinnah select board chair Juli Vanderhoop about the ruling, she had not heard about it. Vanderhoop refrained from commenting until she knows more about what was released. When asked whether the board will take any action based on the ruling, she said, “We will see where we’re at when we know more.” 

Aquinnah town administrator Jeffrey Madison was not immediately available for comment. 

Updated to include a statement issued through Haley’s attorney and to correct the commission’s finding with relation to fraud. The commission did not establish that fraud was committed.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Whom ever failed to hold the invoice for town meeting is the issue here.
    This public servant performed above and beyond with the summer season set to start. Without the “end run” to cover for Eversource, Haley saved half a summer of red tape headaches!
    Aquinnah is fortunate to have qualified personnel willing to do what it takes to complete infrastructure projects when private contractors drop the ball.
    Good on you, Mr. Haley!

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