Ex-Arlington Town Employee Faces Conflict Of Interest Allegations

ARLINGTON, MA — A former Arlington town employee may have violated state conflict of interest law while serving as the town’s Inspectional Services Department Director, according to allegations from the State Ethics Commission this week.

Michael Byrne, who owned a plumbing company during some of the time that he worked as Inspectional Services Department Director in Arlington from 1997 to 2021, allowed his company to work in town without permits or inspections, the commission said. The commission said Byrne created fraudulent permits for work done without legitimate permits and inspected some of his company's work himself.

Byrne issued certificates of occupancy for properties where his company, Trademark Plumbing performed work, according to the commission. The commission said Byrne also issued a certificate of occupancy for a property owned by a developer who had loaned Byrne money.

Byrne did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. We will update this story if we hear back.

The commission described Byrne's former role with the town of Arlington as being responsible for enforcement of state building, wiring and plumbing codes.

The Ethics Commission this week said Byrne violated the law with the following actions:

• Allowing his company to work without permits at 37 locations between 2016 and 2020
• Allowing his company to work without inspections at eight locations
• Performing inspections on his own company's work at six locations
• Issuing certificates of occupancy at two locations where his company did work
• Creating eight fraudulent permits for work his company performed without permits
• Issuing a certificate of occupancy for a building in 2017 owned by a developer who loaned Byrne $25,000 between 2016 and 2018

The State Ethics Commission issued an Order to Show Cause on Thursday, saying it had found “reasonable cause” to believe Byrne violated conflict of interest law.

The commission highlighted specific violations in a statement, pointing to a ban on public officials participating in matters “in which they or businesses they own have a financial interest.”

The commission said Byrne also broke state law prohibiting public officials from using official positions to gain “valuable, unwarranted privileges.”

The Ethics Commission said Byrne additionally violated a requirement that public employees “avoid acting in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to believe they would unduly favor another person or be unduly influenced by another person when performing an official act.”

Town Manager Sandy Pooler on Thursday said he was aware of the Ethics Commission's investigation and its allegations against Byrne.

"Those are serious matters and the Town will be following the investigation closely," Pooler told Patch.

"The idea that such activity was happening is news to all of us here," he said, noting that the topic had not previously been reported to him before the Ethics Commission's investigation.

The Ethics Commission this week said it will schedule a hearing regarding its allegations against Byrne within the next 90 days.

Byrne could face a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each conflict of interest violation, according to the Ethics Commission.

State corporations records show Byrne organized Trademark Plumbing in 2010. Records show the corporation was dissolved on Dec. 30, 2022.