HADLEY — A former member of the Hadley Select Board has paid a $5,000 civil penalty for violating the state’s conflict of interest law.
The State Ethics Commission Monday announced that it approved a disposition agreement with Donald Pipczynski on March 21 in which Pipczynski admitted he violated the conflict of interest law by using his official position to threaten the Young Men’s Club, which had expelled him, and by voting as a Select Board member against forwarding complaints about his conduct to the commission.
Pipczynski said Monday he made the decision to sign the agreement earlier this month because his legal bills were mounting and he was at risk of facing up to $30,000 in fines, or a $10,000 fine for each of three alleged violations.
“I’m very apologetic to the town,” Pipczynski said, observing that Hadley was on the hook for legal fees, as well. “I know what it has cost me to do this. It’s been a very costly experience.”
The violations occurred in August 2016 when the private club on East Street voted to revoke Pipczynski’s membership. As a member of the Select Board Pipczynski was responsible for renewing the club’s liquor and entertainment licenses. At one point, he visited the private club and told members, “If I’ve been kicked out, I’m going to be the second Select Board member in town to have a problem with this club and you’re going to have a major issue on your hands,” according to minutes from an executive session of the Select Board.
In addition, the Select Board received two additional complaints that Pipczynski had invoked his position or flashed his Select Board member’s badge in private disputes. In both instances, the Select Board voted to send the conflict of interest complaints to the State Ethics Commission, but Pipczynski participated both times and voted against forwarding the complaints.
According to the state commission, the conflict of interest law generally prohibits public employees from using their positions for personal gain. Pipczynski twice violated the law.
First, he demanded that he not lose membership in the Young Men’s Club, which entitled him to a $350 fee for renting the pavilion, a $275 discount from what nonmembers pay. “Pipczynski knowingly or with reason to know used his official position to secure for himself an unwarranted privilege of substantial value that was not properly available to similarly situated individuals,” the disposition agreement states.
Second, he voted against Select Board actions to send complaints to the commission.
“Each time he participated in the Select Board votes, Pipczynski knew he had a financial interest in the decision to send complaints to the commission because he knew that a finding by the commission that he had violated the conflict of interest law could result in the imposition of civil penalties against him,” the agreement continues.
Pipczynski said he acknowledges that his votes are a clear violation of the ethics law, but that he was unaware of this when he participated in the decisions.
“I voted because I thought I was doing the right thing,” Pipczynski said.
He disputes that any financial considerations were used in dealing with the Young Men’s Club. “I never rented their pavilion,” Pipczynski said.
Pipczynski said the agreement is silent on his use of the badge, which had previously been given to Select Board members to recognize their oversight of the police department. He is alleged to have used the badge as a way to get inside the clubhouse while driving a bus to an Oktoberfest event in October 2016, and to have shown it to another driver following a fender-bender crash on Route 9 near the Campus Shopping Plaza.
Pipczynski said he would have preferred to fight against the claims, but looking at the possibility of paying $30,000 in fines, or $10,000 for each allegation, as well as $15,000 in attorney fees, made it too much of a gamble.
“There was too much pressure on me to pay $30,000 to prove myself on that,” Pipczynski said.
Pipczynski, who resigned his position on the Select Board in October 2017 due to what he characterized as excessive town government spending, said he ran into immediate trouble when elected in April 2016. His colleagues “had animosity toward me right away,” he said and tried to pass a code of conduct.
“This is a sad way for me to go out, but we all learn from our mistakes,” Pipczynski said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
