01.31.12
Posted in Cohasset Water, Tanna Kasperowicz at 12:58 PM by Tanna K
Qualification
I reported earlier in the day on Jan. 31 that Sass-Macquarie of New York was a majority stockholder in Crow Point Partners, Hingham (formerly Scituate).
I reported this because I was concerned that the Chairman of the Cohasset Water Commission, Peter DeCaprio, who is a partner at Crow Point Partners, was in conflict of interest in discussing an RFP and proposed contract for the Cohasset Water Department with Aquarion Water – who is owned by Sass-Macquaire. Mass GL c 268A bars public officials with a financial interest in a matter from voting on the matter. Further, it requires those financially associated to remove themselves from all debate, as participating would make it appear that person would be using his position to influence the outcome.
Here’s what the organizational chart looked like as late as July 2011, anyway.
conflcit of interest chart
At a Cohasset Selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, Janaury 31 DeCaprio said that Crow Point Partners is no longer associated with Macquarie and that it is now a partnership between two men.
However. Even if DeCaprio is no longer associated with Sass Macaqurie, it does not remove the conflict or the position of conflict. DeCaprio’s associations needs to be vetted by the Ethics Commission and Cohasset Selectmen directed him in that direction at their meeting Tuesday. Macquaire is an investment banking group out of Australia.
Water Commissioner Peter DeCaprio is a partner at Crow Point Partners in Hingham, an investment advisory firm, who is according to a Shareholders report, is majority owned by M.D. Sass/Macquaire Financial Strategies, L.P. and the Macquarie Group. Aquarion Water is also owned by M.D. Sass/Macquaire Financial Strategies, L.P. and the Macquarie Group.
DeCaprio told a group of town officials at a public meeting on January 23rd that Aquarion Water was an interested bidder he should have immediately stepped down from negotiating the contract. On January 30 Charles V Firlottee, President and CEO of Aquarion agreed that his company was a potential bidder.
Water Commission will advertise a request for proposal in February. Water commissioners will award the bid sometime before the Annual Town Meeting in May, which will then vote on this. Unless of course it is decided by the town fathers that DeCaprio has poisoned the proceedings.
Selectmen voted to meet next Monday (February 6) with DeCaprio, the Water Department’s special counsel, Town Counsel, and the President of Aquarion Water. The main discussion will revolve around whether water commisioners had the right to hire special counsel without the approval of the Cohasset Board of Selectmen. Cohasset Selectman Chairman Ted Carr said the Aquarion Water CEO was so concerned about discussion of Aquarion’s interest in the concession agreement that” he called this office to talk to Mike (Coughlin) about it.” Carr said he wanted to clear the air about everything. He told Caprio he was concerned about how special counsel for the water department was selected by DeCaprio. “I think it stinks.”
Background
On Friday, Janaury 27 Cohasset Water Commission Chairman Peter DeCaprio and his board were informed by Town Manager Mike Coughlin that the Town will not process any payment for an attorney water commissioners hired to process an RFP for commissioners regarding a 20-year consignment lease for the water department. Town Counsel Paul DeRensis’ decision was sent to the water and sewer commissioners, the board of selectmen and the advisory committee. Reasons for denying payment were itemized as the following:
1. Lack of approvals from Town Hall
2. Absence of an authorized contract
3. Ethical issues
Coughlin said in his E-mail to town officials that ethical issues stemmed from the fact that DeCaprio retained the same attorney he used for the water department to represent him in connection with matters regarding his Jerusalem Road home.
Last night DeCaprio argued that water commissioners had the right to retain counsel without the selectmen’s vote. Carr disagreed. “You can argue to death. This should have been brought to our attention,” at which point DeCaprio said he had informed Selectman Paul Carlson on Halloween Eve. Nevertheless, Carlson said he had not informed the entire board.
Steve Gaumer, chairman of Capital Budget Committee, said the question of whether Cohasset Water is a private company with its own enterprise fund, is a legal issue. Carr said “I feel strongly that we (selectmen) get to hire the lawyers.”
Regarding the question of whether DeCaprio should have hired his personal lawyer to work on the water department’s concession: Town Manager Mike Coughlin said DeCaprio can seek an opinion on his questionable conflict of interest from the Ethics commission.
In response to the question of whether Cohasset Water is a private water company, former selectman Karen Quigley noted that the enterprise fund is simply an accounting procedure. She said if Cohasset taxpayers are obligated to pay Cohasset Water’s debt (to the tune of $22 million last year), adding that if it’s a private operation she wants her money back.
Water Commissioner Leonora Jenkins said the Town Manager and Jerry Perry of the Department of Revenue were conspiring to work against Cohasset Water.
Mike Milanoski of the Governance Committee said his committee was looking to figure out what Cohasset Water was (private or public) by the end of 2012.
Carr said he wanted Selectmen to create a back-up water operations article for Annual Town Meeting which he suggested might be the creation of a municipal water department in case town meeting voters said no to Cohasset Water’s concession agreement. DeCaprio said he would never accept that.
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01.27.12
Posted in Cohasset Water, Tanna Kasperowicz at 7:56 PM by Tanna K
Breaking news…late Friday afternoon, January 27, 2012
Cohasset Water Commission Chairman Peter DeCaprio and his board have been informed by Town Manager Mike Coughlin that the Town will not process any payment for an attorney water commissioners hired to process an RFP for commissioners regarding a 20-year consignment lease for the water department.
Town Counsel Paul DeRensis’ decision was sent to the water and sewer commissioners, the board of selectmen and the advisory committee. Reasons for denying payment were itemized as the following:
- Lack of approvals from Town Hall
- Absence of an authorized contract
- Ethical issues
Coughlin said in his E-mail to town officials that ethical issues stemmed from the fact that DeCaprio retained the same attorney he used for the water department to represent him in connection with matters regarding his Jerusalem Road home.
What is almost comical is that while some town officials are worried about a couple of people being transferred around at town hall, the water commission was planning to give our new growth, multi-millions of dollars, to a soon-to-be designated water company and the kingpin planning this transfer of wealth was the chairman of the Cohasset Water Commission, who is also a partner at Crow Point Partners managing one hedge fund and three mutual funds. DeCaprio focuses on the utility and telecom space with some exposure to energy. Is this a conflict? Sounds like it.
DeCaprio was at the forefront in putting the RFP together and selectmen appeared to be buying into it. There is some talk around town that the selectmen are actually frightened of DeCaprio, who scoffs at the open meeting law, drinks beer at water commission meetings, and said “We’re not in it to make money.” So what is the motivation in designing a 20-year concession for a contractor when it appears the only serious money that would be made would in fact be made by the consignee?
The question we have now is what are the ramifications of this exciting occurrence? Will Cohasset Selectmen fire the Town Manager and Town Counsel over DeCaprio’s ethical problems?
Probably.
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01.26.12
Posted in Bob Montgomery Thomas, Weymouth at 8:45 PM by Bob Monty
(Picture of recent Weymouth mayoral candidate and second-place finisher, Bob Monty, contemplating his navel while listening to the incumbent mayor’s very dumb answer to an overly dumbed-down question at a League of Women Voters candidates forum in late October 2011. The “forum” was put on by the same national group who launched vicious attacks against Sen. Scott Brown without disclosing their funding sources.)
By Bob Montgomery Thomas, January 16, 2012
If you’ve never met US Senator Scott Brown one on one, you’ve really missed something. I first met him when he was still a Massachusetts state senator at a political event in Swansea. I was introduced to him by Senator Bob Hedlund, his then-fellow senate Republican on Beacon Hill.
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01.24.12
Posted in Tanna Kasperowicz at 4:40 PM by Tanna K
Below is a series of E-mails between Cohasset Cap Budget and the Cohasset Town Manager. Cohasset Selectmen are all CC-ed…all watching their town manager being assaulted before their very eyes. What this blogger has observed is that Cap Budget and Advisory want to keep the Town Manager hopp’n…. meeting with him ad nauseum, whether there is new information or not. When you get to the last two exchanges you will see where this is leading.
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Posted in Tanna Kasperowicz at 1:52 PM by Tanna K
Drinking at the Water Commission Meeting
and other Horrible Things
By Tanna Kasperowicz
Brace yourselves for another wild and wooly selectmen’s meeting tonight 9 (tonight is Tuesday, January 24) as the power struggle between the Town Manager and Cap budget and Advisors continues.
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01.23.12
Posted in Rod Young at 11:42 AM by Tanna K
by Rod Young
Must be love, for it’s certainly not politics as usual, nursed by ‘mother’s milk ….’
It’s non generic Newt – older, wiser, and perhaps even quicker. Better than a laugh a minute.
Each of nearly 20 presidential debates has proven entertaining to record setting audiences, entirely because of the rhetorical brilliance of the former Speaker. Viewers only have been impatient that debate moderators put their questions to him rather than to Governor Rick Perry, former governor John Huntsman, Rep. Michele Bachman, or businessman Herman Cain, all now 2012 also-rans.
Romney’s fans appear inveterate Obama detractors, persuaded that only a liberal former Massachusetts governor will attract enough independents in the general election to defeat the President.
Septuagenarian Ron Paul delivers a populist libertarian philosophy – and stand-up often on a par with Gingrich – but along with quixotic gibberish about isolationism.
Few laugh lines attend ‘solid family man’ Rick Santorum’s sermons. Incredibly he preaches that he occupies the tepid middle – “just right” – between Mitt’s cold and Newt’s hot.
In a war of words, never would the poetic Speaker allude to temperature of porridge.
Following his blowout victory Saturday evening, Gingrich pooh-poohed left-handed compliments. Gingrich credited his prowess on the stump to staunch and uncompromising – and therefore eloquent – support of the beliefs and ideals of true Americans.
Can Newt’s 41% to Romney’s 28% and Santorum’s 13% in the South Carolina primary be a fluke? Pundits credit the SC contest as the infallible predictor of the Republican nominee for the past three decades.
Since punditry has proven remarkably off the mark regarding Gingrich’s prospects over three months, there must be new (old?) political maltose a flowin,’ other than $$Mom’s this go-around. It seems Obama might be as vulnerable to a clever laugh line by Newt – ridiculing presidential ‘unsuccesses’ – as to the predictable condemnations of businessman Romney or Cain.
Gingrich might well be up to the grandiloquence, the soaring rhetoric – or “grandiosity,” as Santorum opined – of a Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, or JFK, the most eloquent of all U.S. presidents to date. Strangely the lot of these (not excluding Lincoln) were abashed womanizers – glib then not for nothing. The Speaker appears akin.
Political themes stated ad nauseam become insufferable. John Edward’s “Two America’s” comes to mind. Gingrich is spontaneous – never telepromptered – and therefore perceived by a swelling constituency as authentic. His warts are becoming beauty marks.
A pedagogue who inspires is more a treat to the liberal establishment overall – that is, to costly Great Society fiefdoms – as to a sitting Democrat president. There can be little doubt from here on that the Democrat focus on Romney as the probable Republican nominee is but a ploy to dispel the advent of a more concerning philosopher phenom (king?).
Given that Gingrich prevailed among voters in all South Carolinian demographics – even moderates – his momentum can only intensify in Florida and beyond.
No advisor need instruct this man,
‘Be yourself.’
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01.18.12
Posted in Tanna Kasperowicz at 1:22 AM by Tanna K
Team Cohasset with its bright new director of finance, Mary Gallagher, gave a stunning sunny-day presentation to selectmen at their Jan. 17th. meeting. Hip Hip Hooray! The good news will warm all of us through June and beyond. Avalon and the Cook Estate are responsible for new growth, and will continue to be so in upcoming years. Team Cohasset said. Cedermere has new owners – still unknown what’s going to happen there but it looks like something will happen. Team Cohasset is very optimistic about growth and is banking some of it. Nevertheless, they are watching the money and preparing to tuck some away for rainy years.
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