Page 2 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, June 30, 2023 Malden High School Class of 2023 Dedicates Yearbook to Director of Athletics Charlie Conefrey. ~ Letter-to-the-Editor ~ City Councillor Addresses Mass. State Ethics Commission Decision Dear Editor, Co-Coordinating the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program from 2011-2020 is something I will forever be proud of. Under the direction of the Mayor’s offi ce, and with substantial grant funding from the state, private companies and foundations, we were able to expand the diversity of the youth in the program, make the program more transparent and inclusive, and open the program up to reach thousands of young people across Malden. During a ten-year span, we hired over 3,000 youth, two of whom were my daughters. All jobs, including staff positions, were publicly posted and hired by the Human Resources Department (public records support this). Everyone who was hired went through the same rigorous and transparent process: • Completing an application, which was scored by multiple city employees and volunteers in a blinded process (no names were shown). • Being interviewed in an open, 9 transparent, community process with over 40 volunteer interviewers including the Mayor, state representatives, Malden High School educators and administrators, and countless staff from our city government and local organizations. I strongly believe in fairness and transparency, and acted on those beliefs in co-creating this rigorous process for all 3,000 applicants. In the spirit of transparency, I am letting you know that in 2021, based on an anonymous tip, the Mass. State Ethics Commission began a preliminary investigation into me personally. They did so after my employment with the city had ended and after I had announced I was running for public offi ce in Malden. The investigation was undertaken pursuant to G.L. c. 268B, § 4(a), claiming possible violations of the confl ict-of-interest law, G.L. c. 268A. The anonymous person claimed I violated state ethics laws because two of my three daughters were chosen by the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program committee to be hired in 2017. All jobs, including staff positions, were publicly posted and fi lled by the Human Resources Department (public records support this). Staff positions, including my daughters, were also publicly posted and interviews for staff were held by Ms. Collomb in 2019. Ms. Collomb hired my daughter among others into a staff position located in Malden High School. At this time, I inquired with the Malden legal department and the Mayor’s offi ce whether or not I should get a legal opinion or sign a disclosure under the applicable ethics statutes and I was told in writing that no opinion or disclosure was necessary because I would not be supervising my daughter (public records support this in 2018 & 2019). I did not hire or supervise my daughters. I never evaluated their performance, set or adjusted their pay rates, or directed them in the job they were hired to do. Occasionally, I was called upon to Enjoy. Connect. Celebrate. We’ll be closed Monday, July 3rd and Tuesday, July 4th in observance of the holiday. The bank will be open for regular business hours on Saturday July 1st and Wednesday, July 5th. You can access your accounts using our ATMs and Online & Mobile Banking. Thank you! sign forms and timesheets approving payroll for all employees in the program, but only to comply with city policy when other signatories were unavailable. All forms, payroll registers and timesheets were reviewed for accuracy and my role was to sign payroll registers, as every other director must do, in order to comply with city policy. The State chose to interpret this as “supervision.” If you have read this far, you may be wondering why I am now telling you all this. I am sharing these details with you because after a year of fi ghting this claim and an initial retainer of $7,500 in legal fees, I am at a pivotal point. In June, I was off ered a proposed disposition agreement I by the state ethics investigator contingent on me signing a document stating that I violated ethics laws (when I still believe I did not) and agreeing to the conditions below: (1) that Colón Hayes pay to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with such payment to be delivered to the Commission, the sum of $15,000 as a civil penalty for violating G.L. c. 268A, §§ 19 and 23(b) (3); and (2) that Colon Hayes waive all rights to contest, in this or any other administrative or judicial proceeding to which the Commission is or may be a party, the fi ndings of fact, conclusions of law and terms and conditions contained in this Agreement. A $15,000 fi ne for actions relating to a temporary summer job is unprecedented. So, we decided to fi ght it. After using the entire $7,500 of the retainer in legal fees plus an additional $9,442.00 in further legal fees, the state ethics commissioner decreased the fi ne to $7,500. To pursue this further would compromise my family’s fi nances even further, so it no longer makes sense for me to do so. I have two children with chronic health issues and a daughter entering college in the fall. So, I made the decision to sign the document that attacks my integrity in order to stop the fi nancial bleeding. This was an extremely hard decision, but it was the sensible fi nancial decision to make and it was the decision that will protect my family from further harm. Others know me to be an honest, hard-working person and I take ethics laws very seriously. My actions in the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program were part of a team eff ort; they had the approval of my superiors and the city solicitors. I continue to be extremely proud of everything we accomplished in the program. However, I apologize to the residents of Malden for any appearance of impropriety. I should have been more aware of how my actions might appear and their potential consequences. I am continually learning. I am happy to answer questions, as I am forever trying to be as transparent as possible. Please feel free to call me at 781-704-6342. Thank you. Karen Colón Hayes Councillor-at-Large CORRECTION: t has come to the attention of this newspaper that a picture in a political announcement published in the Friday, June 23rd edition of the Malden Advocate titled “Discover the Inspiration Behind My Campaign to Lead Malden” was captioned incorrectly. The picture was incorrectly captioned as “Victor Alvarado who is currently running for Mayor of Malden, and his daughter, Lissette.” The correct caption should have read “Victor Alvarado and his daughter, Lissette Alvardo, who is currently running for Mayor of the Malden.” The Advocate Newspapers regrets the error.
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