Former Andover Youth Services Leader Pays $9K For Ethics Violation

BOSTON, MA — Former Andover Youth Services Assistant Director Glenn Wilson has paid a $9,000 civic penalty for violating a conflict of interest law, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission (ETH) announced Tuesday.

In a release, ETH said Wilson signed a Disposition Agreement in which he admitted to the violations and waived his right to a hearing.

According to ETH, Wilson received payments from the Hurston Family Foundation, a private nonprofit, relating to his employment and because of his position as a Town of Andover employee.

Between 2016 and 2021, Wilson received a total of 10 payments of private compensation amounting to at least $17,500, ETH said.

According to the state agency, in 2016, Wilson and former Andover Youth Services Director William Fahey met with the president of the Hurston Family Foundation. During the meeting, the president said the foundation would provide funding for Andover Youth Services for building maintenance, programming and staff.

It was later decided that the Hurston Foundation would send donations to Andover Youth Services through Andover Youth Foundation, according to ETH.

ETH said that the first of the donations was made in May of 2106, and it involved $3,000 in funding — $500 apiece — earmarked for Wilson, Fahey and four other Andover Youth Services Staff members.

The Hurston Foundation made nine additional donations to Andover Youth Services, via Andover Youth Foundation, through 2020, and all of those donations included private compensation for Andover Youth Services Staff, according to ETH.

Additionally, ETH stated that for each of the nine donations, Wilson edited Fahey's letters to the Hurston Foundation describing how the funding would be allocated. Wilson listed specific "merit pay" payments to full-time Andover Youth Services staff identified by their names and public job titles, including himself, and submitted the letters using his official town email account, ETH said.

"Wilson's receipt of private compensation relating to his employment as assistant director of Andover Youth Services violated the conflict of interest law's prohibition against municipal employees receiving compensation from anyone other than the municipality in relation to a matter in which the municipality is a party or has a direct and substantial interest," ETH said in a statement.

The ETH statement continued: "In addition, where Wilson was given the private compensation for or because of his public position, he also violated the law's prohibition against public employees receiving anything of substantial value, unless authorized by law or regulation, for or because of their official positions.

"Finally, by editing the letters securing private compensation for himself and other Andover Youth Services staff in his public capacity and submitting them using his town email account, Wilson violated the conflict of interest law's prohibition against public employees using their official positions to obtain for themselves or others substantially valuable unwarranted privileges."