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Committee forwards LRA appointment and tables airport appointment pending ethics review
Summary
The committee sent Adonis Rodriguez Ramirez’s appointment to the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority to full council as a committee report and tabled Kervin Valdez’s nomination to the Airport Commission pending a written opinion from the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission about a possible conflict with his livery business; the committee asked the administration and commission chair to attend the next meeting.
The committee considered two administration-submitted appointments.
Adonis Rodriguez Ramirez introduced himself as a local business owner and former banker who has operated restaurants in Lawrence for the past decade. Members asked about his background and a few asked that a representative from the administration and the LRA chair attend the full-council confirmation discussion; the committee agreed to send his nomination to the full council as a committee report.
By contrast the committee tabled the nomination of Kervin Valdez to the Airport Commission after members raised a potential conflict: Valdez operates a livery service that has provided ground transportation at the Lawrence Airport. Members requested an ethics opinion from the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission and asked that the Airport Commission and a representative of the administration appear at the next meeting. The committee chair advised that the formal request for an ethics opinion must come from the nominee in writing so the state commission can respond.
Next steps: Adonis Rodriguez Ramirez’s nomination will be forwarded as a committee report to the full council; Kervin Valdez’s nomination will be tabled until the candidate requests and obtains a written state ethics opinion and the administration and Airport Commission can respond to committee questions.
