By George P. Hassett

An ex-Somerville building inspector was fined $5,000 for ethics violations including inspecting construction work on his own home and reccommending his mother-in-law’s contractor to permit applicants.

Gene Covington agreed to the civil penalty for violating the state’s conflict of interest law. Covington worked in the city’s Inspectional Services Department.

According to the agreement, contractor Joaquim Correia, Jr., owns JEJ General Contractor, Inc. and performed several home improvement jobs at Covington’s residence between 2005 and 2007, for which he was paid $14,300 by Covington’s wife.

Covington’s residence was owned by his mother-in-law.  In 2006, Covington, as building inspector, conducted the final inspection on one of the roofing work jobs performed by Correia/JEJ at Covington’s residence.  In addition, the agreement states that between 2007 and 2008, Covington engaged in the following conduct:

• on at least five occasions, in violation of ISD policy prohibiting inspectors from recommending contractors, Covington recommended Correia/JEJ to property owners, who then hired Correia for construction work;
• on six occasions, Covington approved building permit applications and issued permits for properties where Correia was listed as the contractor; and
• on four occasions, Covington inspected Correia’s work.