MATTAPOISETT — Selectmen voted to deny Thomas P. Crotty’s request to serve as legal counsel for the Mattapoisett Valley Water District based on fears of a conflict of interest. 

The Mattapoisett Valley Water District is a water treatment facility that is run by the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett and Fairhaven, which provides water to those towns, and also to Rochester. The board took issue with Crotty’s possible appointment as its counsel because he is currently representing a group of Mattapoisett residents in a case against the town.

The case in question came before the Zoning Board of Appeals, and involved the Inn at Shipyard Park. The Conflict of Interest Law prohibits town employees from representing clients other than the town in matters where the town would have an interest, including legal cases. 

Because of this, Crotty cannot be designated a municipal employee. 

Crotty consulted with the State Ethics Commission about the position and submitted a letter on Sept. 24 requesting designation as a “special municipal employee,” which would mitigate concerns of the Conflict of Interest law. 

However the Board of Selectmen did not wish to appoint Crotty as a special municipal employee because it has not designated the group that he would be representing, the Mattapoisett River Valley Water district, as a special employer. Clerk Paul Silva also spoke against Crotty as a special employee. 

The board explained in a letter to Crotty that they do not want to appoint him to the position because “the perceived conflict will continue to raise concerns amongst people in Town, and could result in a complaint being filed with the State Ethics Commission.” 

Because Crotty must be approved as a special municipal employee by the Selectmen in Mattapoisett, Marion and Fairhaven to take the position, he is now ineligible to serve as a special municipal employee for the Mattapoisett Valley Water District.