The Journal gets the story wrong

By George P. Hassett

    The Somerville Journal twisted the words of an outgoing Department of Public Works (DPW) superintendent, changing the meaning of his statement, said Joseph Voutour to investigators this week.

    Voutour resigned from his post at DPW three weeks ago, citing clashes with Commissioner Stan Koty over alleged micromanagement and demands to secretly raise political contributions from contractors for Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, according to an article in the Somerville Journal and summarized by the Boston Herald.
   Now Voutour is claiming he was misquoted and the funds Koty asked him to raise were actually for a charity, said City Solicitor John Gannon, who led the internal investigation into the charges.
   In an interview with a city investigator, Voutour said the Journal misquoted him.
  ‚ÄúI don‚Äôt know where they got that. That is just ‚Äì they‚Äôre dreaming on their own,‚Äù he said of the claim, attributed to him, that the contributions would go to a Curtatone war chest.
   In fact, said Voutour, the white envelopes contained tickets to a charitable fundraiser. He told investigators he could not remember what the specific charity was or when Koty had asked.   
   ‚ÄúIt was not a campaign issue. It was not and I‚Äôll personally tell the mayor that right to his face or any other tribunal that I‚Äôm asked for. It was not a campaign issue to my knowledge. It was, it could have been as simple as raffle tickets‚Ķ‚Äù he said to the investigator.
    Brock Parker, who interviewed Voutour and wrote the Journal article, said Voutour called the offices of the Journal the Monday after the article was published to inform the staff that he had been misquoted. Parker said he did not yet know if the paper would print a retraction.
   Gannon and Daniel Cotter, a Somerville police officer, said their investigation found no corroborating evidence to support Voutour‚Äôs charges.
   ‚ÄúFive minutes into the interview, Mr. Voutour dispelled the claims raised in the Journal article,‚Äù said Gannon.
   Koty adamantly denied the claim in interviews, said Cotter.
   Cotter said Voutour was given as much time as he needed to produce supporting evidence but could not.
   ‚ÄúMr. Votour could not recall any date when the incident could have taken place,‚Äù he said.
   In addition to Voutour, Koty and Curtatone, investigators interviewed employees at various levels of employment at DPW, and contractors who either do business with the city or have contributed to past campaigns of the mayor.
   ‚ÄúEvery campaign finance report filed by Joseph Curtatone is in the law office at City Hall right now,‚Äù said Gannon.
    The city‚Äôs internal investigation is over, said Gannon, and the findings will now be handed over to the state ethics commission and the state office of campaign political finance.