Franklin DPW Director fined, put on leave, for accepting free ski trips from vendor, officials say
Franklin’s Department of Public Works Director was ordered to pay thousands of dollars for violating the state’s conflict of interest law, according to officials.
The State Ethics Commission says Robert “Brutus” Cantoreggi has to pay a $15,000 civil penalty for accepting free ski trips from a water meter manufacturer and its distributor.
On multiple occasions, the manufacturer and its distributor hosted ski trips where they invited employees of several municipal water districts and DPWs.
Cantoreggi and a friend, who allegedly aren’t skiers, attended these three-day trips in Stowe, Vermont in 2019 and Jay Peak, Vermont in 2022. According to authorities, the vendors paid for lodging, meals, snowmobile rentals, and water park tickets for Cantoreggi and his friend.
The conflict of interest law prohibits public employees from soliciting or receiving anything worth $50 or more that is given to them for or because of their official positions.
“Public employees should not accept unauthorized valuable gifts of any kind from vendors doing business with their agencies,” said State Ethics Commission Executive Director David A. Wilson. “While this prohibition applies to all public employees, it is one which those with budgeting and purchasing authority should be particularly mindful of given that acceptance of unauthorized vendor gifts by public employees with such authority inevitably casts doubt on whether public agency purchasing decisions are made fairly and in the public interest.”
The ethics commission says Cantoreggi signed a Disposition Agreement in which he admitted to the violations and waived his right to a hearing.
He was placed on unpaid administrative leave, indefinitely, until further notice.
“Public employees in leadership positions must remember that they set the ethical tone for their agencies and those they lead, and that their failure to adhere to the law thus presents a particularly grave threat to the integrity of public service and public confidence in that service,” Wilson said.
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