Screenshot taken from the Hummel Report
By Jim Hummel
The former president of the Woonsocket city Council has filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission against Mayor Lisa-Baldelli Hunt, a day after The Hummel Report revealed she hired her son and his friends for an unadvertised, unbudgeted summer job program.
John Ward – who has served on both the city council and school committee – said he mailed the complaint Friday, citing the nepotism clause of the state code of ethics for public officials. “It’s pretty simple, I didn’t want (the Ethics Commission) to lose focus,’’ with multiple counts, he said.
Baldelli-Hunt admitted the idea came to her when she was speaking to a group of athletes over the summer, many of whom who had not been able to find a summer job. “So I said `Would you like to consider doing some work in the city cleaning the streets and such’ and a good portion of them said yes; nine or 10 of them said yes,’’ the mayor told The Hummel Report. “And they filled out the applications and the parents were very grateful for that and it kept their kids busy and got them a little extra money for school and clothing.’’
A total of 10 teenage boys, including Baldelli-Hunt’s 16-year-old son, were hired at $10 an hour. No girls were hired. Baldelli-Hunt said she didn’t think she did anything wrong, but later told WPRO’s Dan Yorke that the hirings were a “misstep.’’
Ward tells The Hummel Report what the mayor did violated what he calls “Political Science 101 of what you shouldn’t do in office.’’
The Ethics Commission has three days after it receives a complaint to decide whether to present it to the full commission for potential action. The commission meets later this month.
The code of ethics has a clause about nepotism that reads:
“No person subject to the Code of Ethics shall participate in any matter as part of his or her public duties if he or she has reason to believe or expect that any person within his or her family, or any household member, is a party to or a participant in such matter, or will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss, or obtain an employment advantage, as the case may be.’’
To see the original report, click here
