by Dave Wedge
DNN Reports!
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009
Mayor Thomas Menino’s police detective son has used a city engineer and a prominent architect who does business with City Hall for work on rental properties he owns, records show, raising further questions about potential conflicts for his father’s administration.
Neither John J. Sinagra, a $103,000-a-year “building systems engineer” in the city’s Property Management Division, nor architect Arthur Choo could specifically recall doing the work for the mayor’s son.
But Sinagra’s City Hall office number is listed on an Aug. 6, 1997 permit identifying him as the “master” gas fitter for Thomas M. Menino Jr.’s rental property at 44 Clifford St. in Hyde Park. Sinagra works in the same city department where Menino Jr.’s wife, Lisa, is employed as a secretary.
Choo, who records show drew up remodeling plans in January 1997 for the 44 Clifford St. property, did not remember the job but said the mayor was not involved.
“They just called me because I’m quite well-known in Boston,” said the architect, whose clients include the mayor’s alma mater, University of Massachusetts at Boston, Fisher College and Bunker Hill Community College, as well as several Hub realty companies.
Sinagra has worked for the city since 1990. His signature and an East Boston address for him are both on the permit, but his business phone number is listed as his City Hall office. State ethics rules prohibit government workers from using public resources for private business purposes.
In a brief interview, Sinagra said he didn’t remember working at Menino’s rental house.
The Herald reported last month that Menino Jr. has been moonlighting 20 hours a week as a safety officer for Suffolk Construction, on top of his full-time Boston police job. Suffolk is a major firm that does business on numerous construction projects requiring city permitting and inspections, but the mayor said he did not need to formally disclose his son’s post.
Menino Jr.’s lawyer, Philip A. Tracy Jr., said his client is a “distinguished” officer who would never accept “preferential treatment.”
“I don’t believe any improper relationship exists,” Tracy said. “Young Tom Menino, who has to live under a microscope, is an honest person who I am sure paid for the services he received. I don’t believe in any way, shape or form that he would look for . . . any preferential treatment. It’s a very small city and it’s very hard not to be cross-referenced with different people.”
Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Menino, said he is not aware of which contractors his son employs. “The mayor believes his son is an honest, hard-working kid who would never take advantage of anyone,” Joyce said.
Another contractor used several times by Menino Jr. is City Councilor Rob Consalvo’s cousin, Joseph Consalvo. Consalvo built a garage and a shed at another rental property, at 46 Clifford St., in 2002 and did remodeling work at 44 Clifford St. in 1995.
Joseph Consalvo is listed in Boston Redevelopment Authority documents as the builder on a restaurant proposed for a vacant MBTA substation in Roslindale. He is also part of a development team seeking to build 22 condo units on a Massachusetts Turnpike-owned property in Charlestown.
Consalvo did not return calls.
Choo said he has known Mayor Menino “since his days as a city councilor.” The architect, who donated a total of $850 to the elder Menino’s campaign from July 2005 to July 2006, was part of a development team that worked on the Alexandria Hotel in the South End - a pet project of the mayor’s that was recently scrapped because the building was sold. He also designed the Columbia Point housing projects in the 1980s and regularly does business with the city.
Tom Menino Jr. and his wife paid $115,000 for 44 Clifford St. in 1995 and sold it in 2003 for $380,000, records show. The couple still owns rental properties at 46 Clifford. St. and 64 Clifford St.
They bought 64 Clifford St. in 1999 for $160,000. The two-family home is currently worth $360,000, records show. In December 2001, they bought 46 Clifford St. for $210,000. The single-family home is currently worth $328,000.
Menino Jr. pulled in $106,000 as a cop in 2008, including 310 hours he clocked in overtime.
Like Father Like Son: Mayor Tom Menino and his son, Thomas
Menino Jr. (Above) are shown in a photo during an award presentation
presented to Thomas Menino Jr. (DNN Staff photo)
Unlike the others, we tell you what's really happening.
No comments:
Post a Comment