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A Pattern of Behavior Investigated, Secretly, as Distinct Acts
Monday, November 29th, 2010
Robert Wechsler
Investigations of purported ethics violations by the Middlesex County
(MA) sheriff apparently led to his suicide on Saturday. According to a
Boston
Globe chronology, the sheriff filed papers for retirement on
October 28, while running for re-election on November 2. His plan was
to get a pension and a salary.
When interviewed about this on November 19, he defended his plan as legal, but the next day he called the Globe reporter and said that he planned to resign as sheriff and take only his pension.
The day the Globe ran its story about the sheriff's decision, the local Fox TV affiliate ran a story based on its seven-month investigation into the sheriff's alleged pocketing of campaign contributions (primarily, if not exclusively from employees) and use of employees for personal purposes. According to an article on the Fox-25 website, the state attorney general's office immediately began an investigation of these allegations.
The next day, the sheriff told the Globe he was being investigated by the state ethics commission about the use of employees for campaign purposes. He denied all allegations.
Five days later, he was found dead, apparently of suicide.
Here is an example of how instances of unethical conduct are usually part of a pattern of behavior, rather than isolated instances. What held these instances together was the involvement of the sheriff's employees. He treated them as personal employees and, until one of them spilled the beans to the Fox affiliate and possibly to the EC, the employees treated him as their boss, rather than as a public servant. There is often intimidation in such situations, which is why it is so important for there to be a way to anonymously inform the appropriate authorities.
It's interesting how each sort of unethical conduct was treated separately, so that no one could put the whole puzzle together. A principal reason for this is the lack of transparency in both the ethics process and the news media when it has a good story. For seven months, journalists investigated instead of the ethics commission or the attorney general. Who knows how long the EC was investigating the matter. Nothing was done to stop the conduct.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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When interviewed about this on November 19, he defended his plan as legal, but the next day he called the Globe reporter and said that he planned to resign as sheriff and take only his pension.
The day the Globe ran its story about the sheriff's decision, the local Fox TV affiliate ran a story based on its seven-month investigation into the sheriff's alleged pocketing of campaign contributions (primarily, if not exclusively from employees) and use of employees for personal purposes. According to an article on the Fox-25 website, the state attorney general's office immediately began an investigation of these allegations.
The next day, the sheriff told the Globe he was being investigated by the state ethics commission about the use of employees for campaign purposes. He denied all allegations.
Five days later, he was found dead, apparently of suicide.
Here is an example of how instances of unethical conduct are usually part of a pattern of behavior, rather than isolated instances. What held these instances together was the involvement of the sheriff's employees. He treated them as personal employees and, until one of them spilled the beans to the Fox affiliate and possibly to the EC, the employees treated him as their boss, rather than as a public servant. There is often intimidation in such situations, which is why it is so important for there to be a way to anonymously inform the appropriate authorities.
It's interesting how each sort of unethical conduct was treated separately, so that no one could put the whole puzzle together. A principal reason for this is the lack of transparency in both the ethics process and the news media when it has a good story. For seven months, journalists investigated instead of the ethics commission or the attorney general. Who knows how long the EC was investigating the matter. Nothing was done to stop the conduct.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
Story Topics:
- Robert Wechsler's blog
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