Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins yesterday expanded his campaign's "do not call" list to include his top staff, their spouses and all contractors doing business with his office, stepping up his offensive against the criticism that followed allegations that any of his employees who don't contribute are not promoted.
Cousins denied he pressures his employees to give to his campaign organization but acknowledged that nearly a third of the $1.2 million he has raised since 2005 came from employees and their family members. He initially reacted to the allegations by pledging he would no longer accept contributions from rank-and-file employees and their spouses.
Yesterday, he broadened the ban to include his so-called command staff of 27, their spouses and all department contractors — from food service vendors to drug counselors.
"Anybody that works with the Sheriff's Department, anybody who does business with us, we're going to take it that far," Cousins said in an interview. "No other agency in the commonwealth has done that to that level. If they do business with the Sheriff's Department, I can't take a check from them."
The ban is similar to one that Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian put in place last year after Gov. Deval Patrick named him to succeed former Sheriff James DiPaola, who committed suicide following allegations that included campaign finance irregularities. Koutoujian banned contributions to his campaign from employees and their spouses. Spokesman Michael Hartigan could not say whether the ban extends to contractors.
Hartigan said Koutoujian received permission from the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance to allow his campaign treasurer to cross-check donor lists against the roster of employees working for the Middlesex sheriff so that he can return contributions from those who appear on both lists.
Cousins yesterday said he would do the same thing. He said he will include the ban in the policy manual for his department, meaning the ban could apply to future sheriffs unless they remove it from the manual.
WBZ-TV reported Tuesday that 300 Sheriff's Department employees and their family members gave a total of $400,000 to Cousins' campaign organization since 2005. The station cited Cousins' financial disclosure forms and eight current or past unidentified Sheriff's Department employees.
In fact, Cousins' financial disclosure forms read like a roll call of Sheriff's Department employees, family members and contractors. Ninety-four employees gave over the last year alone, from Superintendent Joseph Furnari ($250, plus $800 from immediate family members) to Chaplin Carroll Taylor ($200) and K-9 officer Thomas Cote ($350), as well as dozens of contractors, corrections officers, process servers, and in-house plumbers and electricians.
"Everyone is expected to donate," one of the anonymous sources said. "If you don't donate, you're not promoted, you don't get anywhere."
Cousins denied it.
"There are employees who would like to participate," Cousins said. "They have a right to. ... A lot of people chose not to. That's their right. No one bothers them. Nobody pressures them."
State campaign finance law allows elected officials to solicit employees for contributions but prohibits them from soliciting the gifts in government buildings or acting against employees who say no. The law also bars elected officials from using government resources to help them make solicitations off the job, including personnel or other records that contain employee contact information.
Cousins yesterday denied he used Sheriff's Department resources to obtain contact information for employees but would not discuss the issue in detail.
"I'm not going to get into it," Cousins said. "I didn't take anything, from a stamp to a pencil."
Cousins is in his third six-year term as sheriff and said he will run again in 2016, although he said he also is considering running for a higher office, which he would not identify.
In November 2010, he defeated Democrat Damian Anketell by a margin of 2-1.
Yesterday, Anketell said he took no contributions from Sheriff's Department employees or contractors. Campaign finance reports confirm that.
"That activity fosters corruption and destroys morale, and it's ethically wrong," Anketell said. "These officers, staff members, put their lives on the line, and I think they sacrifice enough without any undue pressure or need to contribute to a campaign."
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