Wolf, others get green light to do business with state
State Senator Dan WolfCape Cod Times/Merrily Cassidy
BOSTON — The commonwealth's Ethics Commission cleared state Sen. Daniel Wolf's political future for take off Thursday, unanimously approving a change to the conflict-of-interest rules that will allow public officials to have a stake in certain state contracts.
The 5-0 vote approved an exemption covering contracts that either predate a public employee's time in office or were inherited during their tenure. Public officials would still have to disclose their business interests and play no role in negotiations.
"We do not want to discourage people who are actively in business from running for public office," said Ethics Commissioner William Trach.
The vote was expected after the commission's meeting last month in which commissioners debated the minutiae but agreed on the central point of exempting financial interests under certain conditions.
Unlike a previous version, the draft exemption approved Wednesday would also cover publicly bid contracts, which are considered the least susceptible to influence.
Deirdre Roney, the commission's general counsel, called the amendment a "substantial change."
And commission Chairwoman Barbara Dortch-Okara said she thinks "it's a very good idea."
"There's no reason a person who bids on a contract should be at a disadvantage," said Dortch-Okara, a retired judge.
For Wolf, the vote capped a five-month process that began Aug. 2, when the commission informed him that his 20 percent stake in Cape Air and the Hyannis-based airline's agreements with the Massachusetts Port Authority created a conflict of interest.
The Harwich Democrat, who suspended his gubernatorial campaign later that month, had 30 days to resign the Cape and Islands seat or remove the conflict, either by divesting his share or ending the agreements that allow Cape Air to fly in and out of Logan International Airport in Boston.
Rather than resign or cut ties with the airline he founded 25 years ago, Wolf joined with a group of 11 former judges and high-profile attorneys to petition the commission for a new exemption allowing agreements such as Cape Air's, which he argued are non-negotiable and leave no room for influence.
Wolf canceled his gubernatorial campaign in October, after deciding that the exemption would come too late for him to reenter the race.
The vote Thursday was "bittersweet," Wolf said, because it effectively forced him out of the governor's race.
"Do I wish this had been ironed out several months ago so I could still be in the race for governor? Of course," Wolf said Thursday, in an interview outside the Senate chamber. "But the fact is, that it opens the door for people from the municipal level to the state level to be able to serve."
The Cape and Islands senator has said in recent weeks that he wants to run for re-election, but he had hedged those plans on a favorable commission vote.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, a Provincetown Democrat, had hoped to replace Wolf in the Senate, but she will now seek re-election in her Lower Cape district.
"It certainly solidifies that decision and unfetters me (for) the state Senate run," Wolf said.
Carl Valvo, the attorney representing Wolf and the 11 other petitioners, gave a barely audible clap when the commission signed off on the exemption.
"This is a pretty substantial opening of an opportunity for people to run for office, but it should be noted that it comes with a lot of safeguards," Valvo said after the commission meeting. "It is a very big expansion of the opportunities to run or be appointed to office."
David Giannotti, a commission spokesman, said the commission is preparing a final version of the exemption, which is expected to formally take effect in coming weeks after being published in the Massachusetts Central Register.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140117/NEWS/401170317/-1/NEWSLETTER100
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