June 5, 2019 by Carol Britton Meyer
Background: An NBC10 Boston report that aired April 30 on the 11 p.m. news ("Tip Leads to Investigation of Hingham Town Employees Possibly Double-Dipping") alleged that the town engineer and a member of his staff reported overlapping hours to the Quincy Department of Public Works for work they did at a construction site in Quincy and on their Town of Hingham timecards on one or more occasions. The work was allegedly done through the town engineer's private company, BRL Construction.
Roger Fernandes has been employed as Hingham's town engineer for about 15 years, and Asst. Town Engineer Harry Sylvester worked for the town for more than 40 years.
Town Administrator Tom Mayo confirmed recently that Sylvester has retired, that Fernandes is on paid leave, and that the town is conducting its own investigation. It's unclear whether federal or state agencies are involved at this point.
Update: While initially Mayo predicted that the investigation would take three to four weeks, he announced at the end of last night's Selectmen's meeting (June 4) following remarks made during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting by Hingham citizens, "We're in the midst of an investigation, and the town will reserve comment until after that." When asked by the Hingham Anchor following the meeting what the investigation is costing the town, he declined to comment.
However, Bradley Park Drive resident Ed Demko told the Hingham Anchor last night that he believes the cost could be between $50,000 and $100,000.
During the earlier public comment period, Demko presented a petition signed by more than 200 Hingham residents from all over town -- including South and West Hingham and Crow Point. "Regarding the alleged impropriety, we would like the Board of Selectmen to withdraw from hiring an outside firm to investigate and to put it in the Attorney General's hands," he said. "An outside [private investigative] agency will do what [the town] wants them to do," he alleged.
Selectmen Chairman Karen Johnson responded: "I'm happy to accept your petition." She went on to say, "This is a personnel matter and we have to be careful and work within the parameters."
Following that part of the meeting, Demko told the Hingham Anchor, "There needs to be more transparency through a state agency. The town shouldn't be spending our money when we have state agencies to do it and should drop the outside investigation company."
When asked, Demko also told the Hingham Anchor, "We just want a conclusion to be reached. We want the truth to come out, whatever it is. These people have been in town positions for years, and they're being slandered [by some people] -- but is there proof?"
Hersey Street resident John Hersey spoke after Demko. "Why haven't the selectmen said more about this issue?" he asked.
Again, Johnson said, "It's a personnel matter," to which Hersey responded: "You work for the citizens."
Johnson replied: "There's a prescribed process the town is undertaking."
When asked by the Anchor following the meeting how the reduced Engineering Department staff is affecting planned projects, Mayo said, "We're not anticipating any major hiccups in our road building [plan]."
When asked how this issue is affecting the remaining employees in the Engineering Department and the DPW, which share a building on Bare Cove Park Drive, Mayo said he meets with both departments on a regular basis "to keep the morale up."
Looking back, The Hingham Anchor received an anonymous report via U.S. mail when this issue first surfaced. This was handed over to town officials as part of their ongoing investigation.