Sunday 7 July 2013

TELL US: Should Concord's Mayor Recuse Himself from Dealings with His Landlord?

City developer, who is also the mayor?s business landlord, is submitting plans for the DES building project.

It?s the age old question: What?s a conflict of interest and how do elected and appointed government?officials stay clear of them?

On July 8, the Concord City Council will meet in private session to discuss property acquisition. According to a timeline set by Matt Walsh, the assistant for special projects, this meeting may be to discuss the Department of Employment Security Building project.

Last week, after developer Steve Duprey revealed publicly that he was submitting a plan for the project, state Rep. Rick Watrous, D-Concord, wrote a letter to the council calling on Mayor Jim Bouley to recuse himself from participating in discussions about the project. Bouley?s lobbying firm, Dennehy and Bouley, rents office space from Duprey. Watrous and others, like former Concord City Council candidate Allan Herschlag, point to city ordinances and charter that raise the question of a potential conflict of interest.

Further, Watrous noted, that after receiving documents from a Right-to-Know request, it appeared as if Bouley overstepped his role as mayor in 2009, assisting in the process of securing a tax break before the Legislature?and coordinating city staff to assist Duprey.

Bouley did not respond to an email seeking comment but in the past, has denied that his business relationship with Duprey poses a conflict of interest.

Tell us, what do you think? Should the mayor recuse himself from any transaction that involves his business landlord? Is conflict of interest a problem in Concord, given the incestuousness of the city??Leave a note in the comment section.?

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Source: http://concord-nh.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/tell-us-should-concord-mayors-recuse-himself-from-dealings-with-his-landlord

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