Electrical Department lighting remains on nearby pole
BY JOSH RESNEK
The professional grade, expensive basketball net and stan- chion that arrived in front of the mayor’s home on Abbott Ave- nue about a month ago has disappeared.
According to a local resident, she saw it being removed and taken away on Thursday.
Where it has been taken is another matter.
Remaining on a light pole outside the mayor’s home is light- ing put up there by the Electrical Department shortly after the basketball net and stanchion arrived.
The lighting would have illuminated the mayor’s driveway and the net for evening play.
That basketball net and stanchion was one of three donated to the city by Catholic Memorial High School.
Again, they were intended as a donation to the city – not the mayor.
They are worth about $10,000 each.
They apparently were not purchased by the mayor as that would have been an Ethics Department violation of the firstorder.
The mayor is not allowed by law to purchase or to receive gifts worth more than $50.
If he has now given away the net to prove it wasn’t his remains problematic.
The mayor also is not allowed to order the Electrical Department to set up additional lighting at his home. Any cost for that should have come from his own pocket.
Again, even if he paid, which it is likely he did not, that would be an ethics violation as well, a conflict of interest.
Whether or not the Ethics Commission is investigating this is not public information.
All Ethics Commission investigations are conducted in secret.