(The following story by Nick Kotsopoulos appeared on the Telegram & Gazette website on October 1, 2010.)
WORCESTER — District 1 Councilor Joffrey A. Smith does not have a conflict of interest when participating in City Council matters associated with CSX Corp.’s planned expansion of its freight yard between Shrewsbury and Franklin streets, according to a legal opinion prepared by City Solicitor David M. Moore.
Mr. Smith requested the opinion when a resident recently questioned whether he might have a conflict. Mr. Smith’s father is in the same business as one of the business properties that CSX is looking to acquire through eminent domain.
George Loconto of 272 Plantation St. raised the issue at a meeting of the City Council Economic Development Committee. He said one of the properties that CSX wants to acquire is owned by Leroy & Co., 567 Franklin St. — a scrap metal dealer in the same business as Mr. Smith’s family.
Mr. Loconto said Leroy & Co. fears the CSX expansion project could put it out of business because the owners may not be able to find a suitable new site.
“The people from Leroy’s are very concerned about this; they feel it could be a conflict of interest,” said Mr. Loconto, who is not affiliated with Leroy & Co. in any way.
At that meeting, Mr. Smith said his family’s scrap metal business is totally unrelated to the CSX project. He said his family also has no financial ties to the project and nothing to do with it whatsoever.
He added that any acquisition of the Leroy & Co. property would be done through a private transaction involving that company and CSX, and council has no role to play in that.
Last week, Mr. Smith pointed out that the issue was raised by someone not even affiliated with the company. He also slammed Mr. Loconto’s assertion that there are only three major scrap dealers in the city, making it seem that his father’s business would greatly benefit if Leroy & Co. closed.
Mr. Smith said he requested a legal opinion from the city solicitor “so my name can be cleared from having any wrongdoing.”
Mr. Moore said the chief issue is whether the zoning and street layout changes to be voted on by the council affect Mr. Smith’s father’s financial interest, because they are part of a project that includes the acquisition by CSX of another scrap metal dealer operating in the city.
The solicitor pointed out Mr. Smith’s father’s business (100 Lamartine St.) is two miles away from the scrap metal dealer in the CSX project area. He said that is substantially outside of the 300-foot zone generally used to determine the extent to which actions affecting the value of property are deemed to extend under the conflict of interest law.
He added that there are at least a dozen scrap metal dealers in Worcester alone and even more in the surrounding towns. He said it would seem fair to conclude that the scrap metal market is disbursed among a relatively large number of dealers and the bulk of any business lost by Leroy & Co. would shift to two nearby competitors in that area and not extend to dealers farther away.
Mr. Moore also emphasized that votes taken by the council associated with the CSX project do not directly deal with 567 Franklin St. or the scrap metal business there. Instead, he said, the council will be voting to rezone the property to be used for the expanded CSX rail yard.
“It seems clear that the impending votes of the City Council do not directly or immediately affect the financial interests of (Mr. Smith’s) father’s business because they do not accomplish the closure of the business at 567 Franklin St.,” Mr. Moore wrote. “Taking all of these factors into consideration, it does not appear to me that your participation as a member of the City Council would be sufficient to affect the financial interests of your father’s scrap metal business.”
Mr. Smith said the solicitor’s opinion makes it clear that he has no conflict of interest regarding any CSX votes.