The Massachusetts GOP filed a complaint with the State Ethics commission today in response to yesterday's Boston Globe story which detailed how Speaker Sal DiMasi "may have helped fast-track legislation on behalf of a friend who extended him a $250,000 line of credit at a low rate."
Rob Willington, Executive Director of the Mass GOP, released the following statement:
"Once again Speaker DiMasi has shown that when it comes to the Democrat party, ethics are optional. I won't hold my breath waiting for the Democrats to do anything about it, because they have shown a complete unwillingness to do the right thing, even when blatant violations are staring them in the face. The voters will remember their arrogance this November, and Republicans will be there to remind them."A copy of the letter to the ethics commission is posted in the extended entry.
April 28, 2008State Ethics Commission
Enforcement Division
One Ashburton Place, Room 619
Boston, Massachusetts 02108Dear Commissioners
On April 27, 2008, the Boston Globe published a newspaper article entitled “Just The Ticket for Brokers.” The story details how professional ticket brokers hired a man named Richard Vitale to lobby House Speaker Sal DiMasi on legislation pending in the Massachusetts General Court. According to the article: “At the urging of the group's leader, James Holzman, the president of Ace Ticket Worldwide, the brokers paid Vitale what two members in attendance at the meeting that day described as many thousands of dollars to help their cause. Months later, legislation to lift regulations on the ticket resale business glided through the House of Representatives with DiMasi's support. After passing the House, the bill got bottled up in the Senate, where it remains today.”According to records publicly available at the Secretary of State’s office, Richard Vitale is not registered as a lobbyist with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as required under the General Laws. In addition, according to the records publicly available with the Suffolk County Registrar of Deeds, Speaker DiMasi receivied a $250,000 line of credit from an entity called Washington North Realty Corp, which according to the Globe article was “created in the 1980s by Vitale to engage in consumer lending.”
Chapter 268A of the General Laws governs conduct of state employees and prohibits public officials from seeking anything “of substantial value” from people they oversee or vendors whose business they could help or hurt.
- If Vitale was paid more than $5,000 to influence DiMasi, then according to M.G.L. Chapter 3, which governs the definition of a lobbyist Vitale would have had to register as a lobbyist.
- If Vitale was working as a lobbyist, his ongoing financial relationship with DiMasi in the form of the line of credit extended to DiMasi is in violation state conflict of interest laws that prohibit lobbyists from granting anything of value to a public official.
- If Vitale had registered as a lobbyist, he would have been required to disclose how much he was paid by the ticket brokers for his services which he has not done.
Based on this information, I ask the commission to investigate whether House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi violated the states conflict of interest law. In addition, I ask the commission to assess whether the activities engaged in by Vitale on behalf of Mr. Holtzman violated the states rules governing lobbyists, specifically if Vitale ever received more than $5,000 in exchange for lobbying House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi. If so, I urge the commission to consider taking appropriate action.
I have attached the Globe article to this communication.
Sincerely,
Robert Willington
Executive Director
