Press Release: 2024-12-05
State Ethics Commission Issues Public Education Letter to Former Lawrence Building Inspector Julian Perez
Perez used official position to change status of own building permit to “approved”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
12/04/2024
MEDIA CONTACT
Gerry Tuoti, Public Information Officer
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Call Gerry Tuoti, Public Information Officer at (617) 371-9533
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Email Gerry Tuoti, Public Information Officer at Gerry.Tuoti@mass.gov
BOSTON, MA — The State Ethics Commission issued a Public Education Letter today to former Lawrence Building Inspector Julian Perez after finding reasonable cause to believe he violated the conflict of interest law by using his official position and the access it provided to change the status of his building permit to “approved” after the city had withdrawn the permit and issued Perez a stop-work order.
In 2021, Perez purchased a distressed Jackson Street property as an investment, obtained a building permit, and began renovations. In January 2022, the Lawrence Building Commissioner issued a stop-work order for “working beyond the scope of the permit” and issued a notice of violation and correction order for building code violations. In February 2022, the Building Commissioner changed the status of Perez’s building permit from “issued” to “withdrawn” in the city’s permit management software. In September 2022, Perez used his position as Building Inspector to access the permit management software and change the status of his permit from “withdrawn” to “approved.”
After the city discovered Perez changed the status of his building permit, it suspended him without pay for 10 days in April and May 2023. In April 2024, shortly after the State Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division summonsed the city to produce certain records, the city placed Perez on paid administrative leave, telling him by letter it was because he was under Commission investigation. Perez retired as a Lawrence Building Inspector in October 2024.
In October 2024, the Commission found reasonable cause to believe Perez’s changing of the status of his building permit to “approved” violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against municipal employees participating officially in matters in which they have a financial interest, as well as the law’s prohibition against public employees using or attempting to use their official position to obtain substantially valuable unwarranted privileges or benefits.
The Commission decided to resolve the matter with a Public Education Letter rather than an adjudicatory proceeding against Perez for what was a “very serious violation of the conflict of interest law” because the city had already imposed significant financial and other administrative sanctions on him for his misconduct with the building permit, the Public Education Letter states. Regarding the city’s actions, the letter notes, “the Commission strongly disapproves of and cautions against the placement on administrative leave, even if paid, of an employee simply because their agency believes them to be the subject of a Commission investigation. The employing agency’s inference as to who is under investigation may be mistaken and oftentimes the person being investigated has in fact not engaged in misconduct, in which case the administrative leave, even if paid, would be an injustice to the employee and an injury to the public due to the loss of the employee’s services during the leave.”
The Commission expects that the Public Education Letter to Perez will provide public employees in similar circumstances with a clearer understanding of how to comply with the law.
The Commission encourages public employees to contact the Commission’s Legal Division at 617-371-9500 for free advice if they have any questions regarding how the conflict of interest law may apply to them.