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Date: 10/26/2023
SPRINGFIELD — An accusation levied by Mayor Domenic Sarno’s political rival has created a semantics discussion regarding what constitutes an ethical violation.
In the latest in a long line of criticisms regarding Sarno’s distribution of the city’s share of federal emergency funding, City Councilor and mayoral candidate Justin Hurst made accusations of ethical violations by the mayor and one of the recipients of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Specifically, Hurst noted that the City Line Cafe, owned by Martin Cunningham, received $250,000. Cunningham is a member of the city’s Planning Board.
Hurst made the accusation in an Oct. 17 press release, saying, “Mayor Domenic Sarno faces serious ethical violations for failing to disclose that he awarded $250,000 in [ARPA] money to a business owned by Martin Cunningham who is a current member of the city’s Planning Board that the mayor appointed in 2015.”
In the release from his position as city councilor and chair of the council’s Audit Subcommittee — not his mayoral campaign — Hurst argued that serving on a city board or commission and receiving funds from that municipality is a conflict of interest that taxpayers should know about.
However, according to state law, an exemption exists when it comes to emergency funding.
A representative of the state Ethics Commission would not discuss the specific situation, but referred Reminder Publishing to pertinent information, including an exemption in the laws regarding conflict of interest.
The conflict of interest law applies when there is a situation that causes an overlap with a public employee’s public duties and their private interests. The law generally prohibits any public employee from participating in any matter that they or their immediate family has a financial interest in.
A member of a board is considered a city employee and generally could not accept any type of grant funding — unless it was for emergency relief, such as ARPA. According to the state’s website, public employees can participate in mitigation, disaster relief and renewable energy programs administered by their agencies.
The exemption states, “A public employee may participate in, and receive the benefits of, any public agency mitigation program, any public agency disaster relief program and any renewable energy or energy efficiency program to the extent that the employee is otherwise eligible for the program [without violating a Massachusetts General Law] provided that the employee does not participate in or have official responsibility for the administration of such program or decision-making with respect to the award of benefits or relief under such program.”
Hurst also said the relationship between Sarno and Cunningham should have been made public and an opinion from the Law Department or the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission should have been completed before this application was considered, but was not.
“It also doesn’t help that Mr. Cunningham’s business, the City Line Cafe, is a bar without a kitchen making it impossible to meet any objective criteria to be awarded outdoor dining funds,” Hurst said.
He continued, “The administration’s silence on even the appearance of a conflict speaks volume, opening the door for justified accusations of nepotism, ethics violations and misappropriation of funds.”
It is not the first time Hurst has made reference to that establishment when questioning the ARPA process. On Oct. 12, Hurst called Springfield’s ARPA distributions for outdoor dining a “coordinated money grab,” also specifically criticizing the $250,000 award to City Line Cafe and questioning its capacity to serve food.
Cunningham has contributed $350 to Sarno’s campaign and has made contributions at various times since 2015, according to filings with the state.
Sarno did not have any comment on the matter. Reminder Publishing attempted to reach Cunningham but received no response as of press time.
Managing Editor Chris Maza contributed to this report.