Complaints against several Exeter officials prompt Ethics Commission scrutiny

A series of complaints filed with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission has led to fines and scrutiny of several public officials in Exeter.

In October, the Ethics Commission found probable cause that the town's longtime public works director, Stephen P. Mattscheck, had omitted information from his mandatory financial disclosure forms. Mattscheck stepped down from his post that month, but told The Providence Journal that his resignation was not motivated by the ethics investigation.

Missing information from financial disclosure forms also led to $500 fines in recent months for Town Council President Daniel W. Patterson and Town Councilman Calvin A. Ellis.

All three complaints were filed by Asa S. Davis III, a resident who has filed a number of lawsuits against the Town of Exeter over ongoing zoning disputes.

Ellis said that he had unintentionally left out information because he misunderstood the requirements. He described Davis as an "unhappy, disgruntled taxpayer" and "an angry man" who was frustrated by planning and zoning decisions.

Davis freely acknowledged that he has a number of pending lawsuits against the town, some of which originated with a dispute that involved Mattscheck, but said that as a town resident and taxpayer he had an interest in ensuring that Exeter officials were following the law.

"I wouldn’t consider that personal, I would consider that a reasonable position for any taxpayer to take," he said.

Ethics panel says volunteer positions should have been disclosed

Town council minutes state that Mattscheck resigned as Exeter's director of public works effective Oct. 21. However, his letter of resignation, provided by the town clerk's office, stated that he had decided to retire "effective today October 3, 2022." He had held the position since 2007.

At its Oct. 18 meeting, the Ethics Commission voted unanimously to find probable cause that Mattscheck had failed to disclose his interest in a piece of property in Exeter, and also failed to disclose that he served as president of the Rhode Island Public Works Association and New England Branch of American Public Works Association.

That information was supposed to be included on the financial disclosure forms that all public officials statewide are required to fill out every year, under Rhode Island law.

A report from the Ethics Commission's staff attorney, Teresa Giusti, states that Mattscheck thought he didn't have to disclose his leadership positions with the two nonprofit groups because he was not compensated for those roles.

However, language added to the forms in 2020 makes clear that both paid and unpaid positions should be disclosed.

Also at issue is an undeveloped piece of land in Exeter that takes the address 0 Hallville Road.

The lot sits next to the property where Mattscheck and his father both live, according to the Ethics Commission staff report. Mattscheck told investigators that he did not believe he needed to disclose his financial interest in the parcel because "the lot, although taxed separately, is attached to his father's property on which they reside."

In fact, state law requires public officials to list "all real property in which a financial interest is held," outside of their primary residence, on their financial disclosure form.

Davis' complaint had also included a number of other allegations that the Ethics Commission dismissed.

For instance, the Ethics Commission also found that no law was violated when the Town of Exeter paid thousands of dollars for Mattscheck to travel out of state on behalf of professional organizations that he led.

Ellis, a former council president, told the commission that the town had been paying for Mattscheck's travel associated with the public works organizations since 2007. Patterson, the current president, said that the money came from funds set aside for the Department of Public Works in the town budget.

Expenses including flights, hotels, meals and rental cars added up to more than $5,000 in 2016, roughly $6,666 in 2017, $8,425 in 2018, $20,491 in 2019, and $5,611 in 2021, according to the report.

Mattscheck's employment contract stated that the Town of Exeter would pay travel expenses for "professional development," according to the report. Ellis told the commission that Mattscheck received training at RIPWA and NEAPWA events that he would then pass on to other town employees.

Davis, in his complaint, had alleged that the RIPWA or NEAPWA were reimbursing the town for Mattscheck's travel, which he saw as a way to circumvent the typical disclosure requirements for out-of-state travel.

However, the Ethics Commission concluded that doing so would not violate state law: "Whether or not the Town is subsequently reimbursed by another entity, such as RIPWA, for some or all of the cost of the Respondent's travel does not negate the fact that the Town paid for the subject travel."

Town elects interim public works director

An adjudicative hearing for the complaint against Mattscheck has not yet been scheduled, and will likely take place early next year, according to the Ethics Commission. Mattscheck also has the option to seek an informal settlement agreement, rather than go through the hearing process.

At an Oct. 17 meeting, council members unanimously voted to appoint Robert Shappy, previously the town's road superintendent, as interim public works director. Mattscheck's retirement was subsequently announced at the Nov. 7 Town Council meeting.

In an email to The Providence Journal, Mattscheck said that his retirement was "not related to RI Ethics or anything else going on in Exeter." He said that he had retired because he "received a better offer for employment."

Mattscheck did not respond to a follow-up inquiry about what his new job was, but his LinkedIn profile describes him as the director of sales for New England Asphalt Services.

Council president failed to disclose selling holiday wreaths to town

Patterson and Ellis, who were both reelected to the Town Council in November, agreed to settlements with the Ethics Commission.

Patterson and his wife are co-owners of Shanbri Farm, a retail nursery and gift shop that "also operates as Shanbri Arms, a seller of firearms," according to the settlement order. He had failed to disclose that ownership stake on the financial disclosure forms that he filed between 2016 and 2021.

While looking into the complaint, the Ethics Commission found that Shanbri Farms had sold holiday items such as wreaths and window boxes to the town.

In 2017, 2019 and 2020, those sales came to slightly more than $250, so they should have been disclosed on Patterson's ethics forms. (In 2016, 2018 and 2021, sales totaled $250 or less and did not require disclosure, according to the Ethics Commission's settlement order.)

As part of the settlement, Patterson agreed that Shanbri farms "will not sell or enter into a contract to sell any products to the town for duration of his tenure as a member of the Town Council," unless the contract is awarded in accordance with the state's Code of Ethics.

The Ethics Commission also found that Patterson had failed to disclose the stipend that he was paid as a member of the Town Council, and his partial ownership of a property in Groton, Vermont. He has since amended his financial disclosure forms.

Councilman agrees to settlement; amends financial disclosure forms

Ellis, similarly, failed to mention his stipend for serving on the Exeter Town Council on his financial disclosure forms. (The stipend is roughly $3,000 a year.)

He also failed to disclose his leadership position on the Washington County Regional Planning Council Board of Directors, according to the settlement order.

In 2017, the planning council received $3,000 from the Town of Exeter. Ellis was not present at the meeting where the Town Council voted to include the appropriation as a line item in the budget.

The appropriation was among a block of 12 resolutions that were unanimously approved by Exeter voters at the Financial Town Meeting later that year. Ellis participated as a town elector at that meeting, which did not violate the Code of Ethics, according to the commission's findings.

After meeting with Ethics Commission attorneys in October, Ellis amended previous years' financial disclosure forms to include the missing information, as well as his past financial interests in a property at 475 Ten Rod Road in Exeter and a rental property in Narragansett, and his late wife's ownership interest in Scialo Bakery.

Patterson's settlement order was signed in September, while Ellis' dates from last month.

Complaints blamed on 'personal vendetta'

Ellis told The Providence Journal that he unintentionally omitted information because he had "misinterpreted the nature of the questions" on the ethics disclosure forms. It was only once he sat down with investigators that he realized his mistake, he said.

"I will be sure I don't do that again," Ellis said, adding, "There was nothing to hide."

He said that Davis had proposed initiatives that were shut down by planning and zoning officials, and now seemed to be trying to find fault with Exeter officials.

"As someone called it recently, it’s just a personal vendetta," he said.

Davis took issue with that assertion.

"I would like to trust our elected and appointed officials are following the law and spending taxpayer funds wisely, legally, and in an appropriate manner," he wrote in an email, adding, "I believe the admissions of the council members, the fines paid, and the revisions they made to their filings years after the fact (which were originally filed under the pains and penalty of perjury) speak for themselves."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Exeter: Ethics commission fines council members, scrutinizes DPW head