Lawrence
School Committee members Suzanne Piscitello,
Martha Previtt and Carol Bannon have all come
under fire from parents and voters for violating
the State's Conflict of Interest Laws.
Vice-chairman Suzanne Piscitello was reported in
both Rumbo and the daily paper to be profiting
from school funds which she votes for and
approves in the student activity budget. That
budget is used, in part, to send students to
Canobie Lake Amusement Park, where Piscitello
owns and operates concession stands and profits
from those trips. Piscitello also employs fellow
committee member Carol Bannon who works at the
park during the summer and does not abstain from
voting on the Canobie Lake field trips.
Bannon has also come under fire with Martha
Previtt because both work for the city under
Mayor Patricia Dowling. Bannon was promoted from
a clerk's position in the Assessors office to an
inspector in the city's inspectional services
department, (having no prior education or
experience in municipal inspections) shortly
after Mayor Dowling was elected. School Committee
woman Martha Previtt also works for the city at
the Community Development Department under Mayor
Dowling. Previtt was hired by the mayor just days
prior to wining her seat on the school board.
Lawrence residents have called for both Bannon
and Previtt to step down, while others have
called for an investigation against Piscitello
for abusing her authority on the committee and
profiting from school funds. Community activists,
voters, and parents have also publicly questioned
the inappropriate nature of Carol Bannon voting
for the South Lawrence East School budget, which
includes a line item for the salary of her eldest
son, Carl, a custodian hired in 1996 while his
mother was still a member of the School
Committee.
Bannon's son lived with her at the time of his
appointment, and was paying room and board in
their Texas Avenue apartment. Massachusetts state
law, and school committee policy state that any
immediate family member of the school board or
the superintendent of schools must not be hired
unless the School Committee is publicly notified
30 days in advance of that family member being
hired. Ironically, Carol Bannon is among the four
members who have called for superintendent
Gaskins to be fired for violating this very same
statute when Gaskins gave temporary work to her
sister in 1998.
Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 9, section
203, and Chapter 8 section 186 both state
the following;
"The
conflict of interest statute recognizes that the
proper
conduct of the government's business depends upon
public
officials who are independent and impartial.
Public office must not
be used for private gain and the public's
confidence in that fact is
essential to the effective operation of a
democratic government."
The
conflict of interest statute in CH. 9 section 203
further
"forbids
participation by a municipal employee (defined in
this section to include elected officials) in
public matters in which
the employee has a direct or indirect financial
interest.
Employment outside public service is forbidden
where such
employment would tend to impair the employees
independence of
judgment in the employees official duties. The
purpose of the
conflict of interest statute is to prevent giving
the appearance of a
conflict of interest as much as to suppress all
tendency to
wrongdoing."
MGL
chapter 9 section 204, also addresses the
conflict of interest accusations against
Suzanne Piscitello and Carol Bannon in their
joint Canobie Lake activities while voting on
the school budget;
"Public
officials and employees may not engage in the
following
activities or conduct; (may not) accept other
employment which will
impair independence of judgment in the exercise
of their official
duties...(may not) use or attempt to use their
official position to secure
unwarranted privileges or exemptions for
themselves or others...(may not)
pursue a coarse of conduct which will raise
suspicion among the public
that they are likely to be engaged in acts that
are in violation of their
trust."
Mass
General Law Chapter 10 section 289 addresses
Previtt and Bannon running for office
while being employed by the city:
"Running
for office while remaining in municipal
employment may
give reasonable basis for the impression that a
person can
improperly influence the employee or raise
suspicion among the
public that the employee is likely to be engaged
in acts in violation
of trust, both of which may be grounds for
administrative action"
Parents
and community activist have called for a public
hearing to discuss Bannon and Previtt’s
conflict of interest while working for Mayor
Dowling and "rubber stamping" her
agenda on the school committee. At Large City
Councilor Marcos Devers has also publicly stated
his displeasure with the conflict of interest
between the Mayor and two committee members.
Devers asked City Clerk Jimmy McGravey, husband
to City Attorney Carol McGravey, to publicly read
the city charter concerning School Committee
members working for the Mayor. Now he knows the
state laws.
To date, Piscitello, Bannon, and Previtt refuse
to resign their positions and continue to engage
in questionable activities while all three have
called for the firing of Superintendent Mae
Gaskins. They claim that Gaskins has illegally
profited from school funds. Gaskins has said
emphatically stated that she will not resign.
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