From Linda Conner Lambeck, CT Post:
The school board wants the city attorney to tell it whether board member Kenneth Moales Jr. has a conflict of interest in helping to run a day-care center that receives state funding by way of the school district.
By a 6-1 vote and with Moales’ mother and sister in the audience, the board voted to send a letter to City Attorney Mark Anastasi asking him to determine if conflict exists. Board Vice Chairwoman Jacqueline Kelleher voted against the motion, saying she was uncomfortable taking the vote with Moales not in attendance.
Full story here.
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The answer is a resounding YES. Clearly, while he was the chair of the BBOE, he was fully aware an audit regarding his daycares’ billing practices was being conducted by the Connecticut State Department of Education. He was fully aware of the audit results released in September 2013. As chair, he did everything in his power to keep the remaining eight BBOE members from discovering his daycares had been overpaid $75,000 over a four-month period. The CSDE started reducing payments to the BBOE in February 2014 in order to recover the overpayments. The BBOE was in turn required to recover the overpayments from Moales’ daycares. This was all kept hush hush to protect Moales. The BBOE is the fiduciary of the Early Childhood Readiness Grant, which in turn means Moales is a fiduciary as well. How can he be a fiduciary of the funds that he, his mother and sister are the beneficiaries of? It is a clear conflict and this entire fiasco just proves it. He must resign.
Definitely a conflict of interest. I would like an independent group to physically go through the books and facilities and identify every student. He is too close to Finch and I would hate to see a scandal give another black eye to the city’s already corrupt reputation. I’D be curious if there is anyone on this blog who believes there isn’t a conflict of interest.
It will be interesting to see if Moales will step down from the BOE or hand control of the daycares to another family member. Load the daycares up with all your debt, spin them off into their own entity and put some relative in charge. If someone chooses to take the daycares they take the debt as well. Good riddance.
C’mon man, really. The BOE sent a letter to Mark Anastasi asking him if Finch’s main man has a conflict of interest? Just what do they think Mark is going to say?
*** Sad but this is the type of people who continue to sit on city boards and committees in the “city of the dead!” The kind who think it’s okay to do and get away with something shady and the kind who are too scared to speak up when something that is wrong is brought up to the public’s awareness. Maybe Mr .Moales should run for Mayor, no? ***