Beaton Conflict of Interest with P.A. Landers

Five years ago, nearby sand and gravel operator P.A. Landers approached the Town with a gravel deal. The proposal had some financial benefit to the Town but at the center of the issue was a desire for gravel removal. Olly DeMacedo was Selectman at the time and stated, on numerous occasions, that we shouldn’t be "selling Kingston by the yard." Mark Beaton, also a Selectman in 2004, recused himself because he had a brother working for Landers. Beaton left the table during the discussion. Fast forward five years and the proposal is back; the chief architect of the re-emergence is…Mark Beaton.

We comment, not relative to the proposal, but to the manner in which this proposal has been resurrected by Selectman Mark Beaton.
As the leading architect of this proposal resurfacing, Mr. Beaton , in our opinion, is operating outside the parameters of the law in that his brother, a direct blood relative, is an employee of P.A. Landers. Although Mr. Beaton has acknowledged this fact he takes the position that his brother is only an "hourly" employee with no ownership interest in the company. We would state that whether his brother is paid hourly or salaried, owner or not, that is not the issue. Beaton’s brother, irrespective of his pay status, has been an employee of Landers for a significant number of years sufficient to bar Mark from participation on this issue. The fact that Beaton is the driving force behind this initiative further sullies the process. In our opinion the relationship is such that a disclosure does not absolve Mark from the Conflict of Interest laws and places himself and the Town in jeopardy.
If Mr. Beaton wishes to protect the interests of both himself and the Town, It would behoove him to seek a written opinion from the State Ethics Commission explaining his involvement and his brother’s relationship with the company. In order to secure such an opinion, he would be required to lay out all the facts of his participation, also in writing. Once the disclosure letter and the response letter is in place, Beaton should release the findings publicly. It is our understanding that Beaton had recently contacted the Ethics Commission and that they allegedly indicated that there was no problem. It should be noted that the Commission will only respond to exactly what information you provide, which is why a paper trail should exist.

RECUSED FIVE YEARS AGO

We cannot overemphasize the fact that five years ago Beaton recused himself on essentially the same issue. At a Selectman’s meeting held on December 28, 2004, the record reflects: "Mr. Beaton stated that he would recuse himself from discussing the P.A. Landers proposal due to a potential conflict of interest; that being his brother works for P.A. Landers. Mr. Beaton left the table." Our question to Mark is, "What is different today? Mark knew what was the right thing to do five years ago, but we are watching a different Mark today. 
The last time Mr. Beaton spearheaded a drive it resulted in a Chapter 40R 730 unit housing plan bearing the name 1021 Kingston’s Place, a title authored by Mr. Beaton. The only real movement in that project was the filing of a 40-B development filed by the same developer. Once again Beaton has a new vision which is not an organic Town initiative, but a proposal from a developer who has found a willing sponsor.

LANDERS’ BRAIN TRUST IS IN JAIL

Mark Beaton has associated himself with a company in which the president, "Skip" Landers is serving a 3.5 year sentence and a former vice-president is serving 2.5 years for conspiracy to defraud the state along with various municipalities by generating fake or inflated weight scale tickets as a means to overcharge their customers. Both men remain in jail. Further, Mark is representing the interests of a company who was fined $10,000 less than a year ago by the State Ethics Commission for having paid off a Mass Highway inspector so inspections on the new Route 44 roadway construction near Plymouth would "go a little smoother." Further, who was it that extended their mining across the town line into Kingston and destroyed a historic landmark, Nick’s Rock? If the current brain trust of P.A. Landers has a proposal, let them do what others do…make an appointment and discuss it, in open session, on television, and in the light of day.

THE QUANTITY AND VALUE OF GRAVEL

Informed sources have told the Observer that Landers is low-balling the amount of gravel in question. There could be as much as 4 million yards of gravel in the area in question, double the two million yard estimate advanced by Beaton. The quality is premium bank gravel that is in high demand. That figure could go up even further if you continue to mine below grade and create a bowl in the ground. Beaton relishes the idea of creating what he refers to as a "natural bowl." There is nothing natural about heavy equipment gouging out a bowl in the earth. Beaton says we can utilize that bowl and create a theatre or some kind of stadium that could house a semi-professional baseball team. Sounds like Beaton bought stock in the Plymouth River Eels and partnered up with Tom O’Brien when he talks like that. And when would these niceties occur. It would take 10-20 years and upwards of 150,000 truckloads to mine out that kind of operation with no assurance that anything would ever repair the scar. If Mark believes the Town would prostitute itself in this manner, better to sell the gravel to the highest bidder; after all, what, beyond Mark’s brother, gives Landers the right for a leg up on this gold rush?

WHERE WILL THIS END UP?

Not in a good place. Selectman Mark Beaton’s involvement in this matter is deeply troublesome. For all intent and purposes, Mark is serving as an agent for a company with dirty hands and placing himself and the community at risk. Because the resurrection of this matter is relatively recent, there is much more to research. We are interested in obtaining copies of letters that have been exchanged between Landers and the Town between January and now. We know that Mark is pushing this issue; we know that he, along with Tom Bott and Jack Healey attended a meeting at the Landers Plant last Tuesday (March 3), we are interested in the details of that meeting and who authorized it. We also wonder how various documents came to be included on the Town’s website which gives the impression of endorsement by the Board. We can even imagine the script Mark will use in promoting this deal as a means to save our Town from financial ruin by jumping aboard the Gravel Express.