Burke: Penta Should Resign from Council

In light of the recent opinion issued by City Solicitor Mark Rumley, Mayoral candidate Stephanie Muccini Burke is calling upon opponent Robert Penta to resign his position on the City Council effective immediately.

On Friday, September 11, Solicitor Rumley received a request for an opinion from City Clerk Edward Finn, on whether a candidate for public office could engage in political campaign activity in a public building. The opinion (attached) described the incident in question. Per the opinion letter from the Solicitor to the Clerk: “Your specific question arose from a telephone call that you received indicating that City Councilor Robert Penta, a candidate for Mayor, was at the public works building speaking to DPW workers on a Friday morning.”

Solicitor Rumley’s opinion makes clear: “It is my Opinion that political campaign activity in a public building is prohibited. My reasons are two-fold. First, such activity is prohibited by the provisions of G.L. C 55, Sec 13-17…Second, there are ethical considerations that arise under G.L. C 268A-Conduct of Public Officials.”

Muccini Burke, who was the Budget and Personnel Director at the time of her announcement, provided the Mayor with her resignation effective three weeks later. Muccini Burke stated, “while I consulted with the City Solicitor on whether a conflict of interest existed and was told NO, it was the right thing to do for the Office of Mayor. I provided three weeks’ notice which is standard and the appropriate action to take for any employee.”

From the Council floor at a City Council meeting, Penta said “I would personally believe, and I would think, and I would hope, that the Budget Director would consider her position and resign immediately… I think the conflict of interest is still outstanding. That’s an undue advantage, ahead of time, of any other candidate that might also be running for that position. And in all fairness to all parties concerned, I think May 15 doesn’t serve any purpose. I think it needs to be done immediately in all fairness.” After announcing that he would be a candidate for mayor, Penta stated in a recent article in the Medford Transcript, “he has no intention of resigning his City Council seat until January 1.”

“The boldness of this hypocrisy is alarming, with Councilor Penta clearly willing to demand a level playing field for other campaigns, except his own,” said Muccini Burke. “He has expressed concerns over conflicts of interest and ethical boundaries, but with the clear, documented opinion of our City Solicitor, Councilor Penta must assume that those ethical boundaries don’t apply to his own actions. It appears to me that the Councilor is only willing to encourage fairness when it suits his own needs, and to dismiss the notion of fairness when it will serve to his own political gain. The people of Medford deserve better.”

– Submitted by Stephanie Muccini Burke’s campaign