TENARES, Dominican Republic — The garbage truck — the only one in town — is the pride of this impoverished city at the foot of the mountains in the northern Dominican Republic. But, like so much that is connected to Mayor William Lantigua, the vehicle is at the center of controversy and allegations that he abused his power.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Lantigua’s administration has overseen the illegal shipment of city and private vehicles from Massachusetts to the Dominican Republic, including surplus undercover police vehicles and a school bus, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation. Both the garbage truck and the bus were donated at the request of Lantigua by companies that have major city contracts in Lawrence, raising ethical questions about whether the mayor used the companies’ generosity to advance his political career....
Lantigua did not respond to requests for comment for this article, but he has consistently denied any wrongdoing, saying he is the victim of “innuendo and blog gossip’’ in the wake of tough budget cuts he made to eliminate a $25 million deficit.
The garbage truck is only the most visible symbol of Lantigua’s deep ties to Tenares, the hometown of his girlfriend and a place where many residents view their friendship with Lantigua as a path to a better life for their community.
Lawrence, a former mill city that is 71 percent Latino, may be one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts, but it is a land of plenty to the 33,000 residents of Tenares, where some residents in the verdant mountains above the small town center live in shacks with dirt floors.
As many as 12,000 people have left for Lawrence and other US cities, Tenares Mayor Ermes Rodriguez said, and about 80 percent of those who remain in Tenares depend on the money that immigrants send home.
And all of them are legal, right?
Though Lantigua is not from Tenares, residents of this hospitable city embrace him as an adopted son and take pride in his achievements back to his days as a state legislator....
See: The Latin Looter of Lawrence
That makes Lantigua a rarity, an American politician campaigning in a foreign country.
They visit Israel all the time.
Though it is common for foreign politicians to stump in the United States for immigrants’ votes — a Dominican presidential candidate was scheduled to be in Massachusetts on Friday — American politicians rarely do the same. There’s nothing illegal about it unless foreign nationals who are not permanent US residents make campaign donations, which violates federal and state campaign law.
Someone better check out the campaign checks.
In addition, state law bars public officials from using their position or government resources to advance their political careers, such as asking a city contractor to make donations to repay political favors....
Which very well may have happened here.
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Kind of galling when you consider all the budgets getting a hatchet taken to them 'round h're.
