The state Ethics Commission has fined Aquinnah Select Board member Gary Haley $10,000 for violating the state's conflict of interest laws when he performed work for the town, and then later approved payment for himself.
The violation is in connection to a 2018 beautification project in which Haley, a master electrician, billed the Martha's Vineyard town more that $17,000 for burying electrical and telecommunications conduits underground, according to a commission adjudicatory document from Oct. 25.
The project called for burying overhead wires at Aquinnah Circle, a major tourist attraction.
The work involved Eversource digging a trench, where it would install conduits for electrical wires. The project required laying sand over the electrical conduits so telecommunications conduits could be installed above them before closing the trench.
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Eversource dug a trench and installed the electrical conduits. However, Verizon and Comcast told the town they could not install telecommunications conduits. Haley told the town administrator he would install the conduits for free, the document showed.
When he began work, Haley realized that Eversource had not put a layer of sand over its conduits. He then decided to install the sand and the conduits. Haley subsequently...
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