Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson has admitted to violating the state’s battle of curiosity regulation by hiring her sister and son to paid positions on her employees, and agreed to pay a $5,000 positive.
The State Ethics Commission stated Tuesday that Fernandes Anderson appointed her sister and son to full-time positions in 2022, her first 12 months on the City Council. She additionally selected to extend their salaries, and within the case of her sister, award a $7,000 bonus.
“Fernandes Anderson’s actions as a Boston city councilor concerning the appointment and compensation of her sister and son violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against municipal employees participating in their official capacity in matters in which they know members of their immediate family have a financial interest,” the Ethics Commission stated in a press release.
According to the Commission, Fernandes Anderson appointed her sister as full-time director of constituent companies quickly after her November 2021 election to the City Council. She participated within the Council’s vote to approve the appointment following her Jan. 3, 2022 swearing-in.
Fernandes Anderson set her sister’s wage at $65,000. She awarded her sister a elevate in June 2022, growing her wage to $70,000 and tacking on a $7,000 bonus, the Ethics Commission stated.
In June 2022, Fernandes Anderson appointed her son as her full-time workplace supervisor at an annual wage of $52,000. She participated within the Council’s July 15 vote to approve the appointment. Eleven days later, the councilor elevated her son’s wage to $70,000, the Commission stated.
Fernandes Anderson ended her members of the family’ employment on Aug. 31, 2022. The Ethics Commission initiated a preliminary inquiry on Nov. 17, 2022, and concluded that inquiry on March 1, 2023, discovering “reasonable cause” to imagine that Fernandes Anderson had violated the battle of curiosity regulation.
Fernandes Anderson addressed the matter in a Tuesday tweet that included a photograph of her and her sister as kids, stating, “You are my everything and if it wasn’t unethical, I would do it again.”
“I messed up and should have paid attention to those training videos,” she stated in a separate tweet. “I was a rookie, nonetheless, it was negligent. I corrected it as soon as I knew better. But I hurt my sister by not doing my research. I had to fire her while her husband waited for a heart transplant.”
City Council President Ed Flynn issued a rebuke in a Tuesday night time assertion, saying, “It gives me no pleasure to once again address neighbors who are rightfully concerned about troubling legal and ethical lapses involving another member of the City Council.”
Flynn stated he has labored with the Council’s central employees to schedule an in-person battle of curiosity regulation coaching session with the State Ethics Commission, for Aug. 8. He “strongly” inspired his colleagues to attend.
“The residents of Boston deserve serious leaders who provide ethical leadership and work hard to maintain the public’s trust, especially during these challenging times,” he stated.
The State Ethics Commission and Fernandes Anderson entered right into a disposition settlement on Tuesday, through which the councilor admitted to the violation and agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty.
The penalty follows a $3,000 positive one other metropolis councilor, Ricardo Arroyo, agreed to pay for an unrelated ethics violation, the place he continued to signify his brother in a 2018 sexual harassment lawsuit involving town after he was elected to the City Council.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”