Nothing out off the ordinary, anyway:
"Nahant official resigns amid probe into spending" by Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy | Globe staff June 17, 2014
NAHANT — Essex County prosecutors are investigating whether town administrator Andrew Bisignani improperly funneled public contracts to favored contractors, prompting him to resign abruptly and roiling this normally tranquil island community.
State Police raided Town Hall Friday, seizing computers, paperwork, and lists of the town’s vendors, Selectman Michael Manning confirmed, part of what he called a “very broad investigation” into spending by Bisignani. Manning said he learned of the investigation two weeks ago when prosecutors subpoenaed records from the town clerk.
Officials in nearby Saugus, where Bisignani served as town administrator until 2011, said that Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett’s investigators are looking at Bisignani’s conduct there, too. Audits conducted by accountants identified more than $2 million in questionable spending during the last two years of Bisignani’s tenure, including what they called “intentional violation” of state laws and rules.
“We had increased money coming in from taxes, but we were always broke,” said former Saugus selectman Stephen Horlick, who publicly called for criminal prosecution of Bisignani in 2012. “The deficit kept growing. I asked for the bills — show me invoices — but he couldn’t show where the money was going.”
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In Friday’s raid, state troopers arrived in a van as well as cars and swarmed Town Hall. They also roped off Bisignani’s Nahant home as they searched for evidence inside....
Bisignani had an unusual arrangement with Nahant, promising to “work full time for part-time pay,” he said. Because he was technically retired and collecting a pension, he could work only 19 hours a week for pay, but he agreed to volunteer for another 21 hours. He was paid around $54,000 a year, but said that was enough....
Oh, he was double-dipping and padding pensions while pushing contracts to well-connected interests was he?
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UPDATE:
"Nahant town official viewed as remote, unresponsive" by Faiz Siddiqui | Globe Correspondent June 19, 2014
NAHANT — In the Town Hall of this quiet beachside community, employees sorted through ballot petitions for the upcoming elections, handled water and sewer bills, and sold beach tickets to the public.
There was no sign of a police raid. No indication that just a few days ago officers seized computers, paperwork, and lists of the town’s vendors from the building off Pleasant Street. Nothing beyond the fact that, since Friday, the office of the town administrator has been locked.
“I would say it’s business as normal,” Town Clerk Margaret R. Barile said Tuesday, before turning to ask a co-worker, “Wouldn’t you?”
Around Nahant, residents voiced concern and frustration about an investigation of spending by Town Administrator Andrew Bisignani, but many were not surprised. Several described Bisignani as invisible and unavailable to the community, in stark contrast to his predecessor....
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