New selectmen chair Wong taking safe approach with issues

SAUGUS – As a restaurant owner and liquor license holder in the community, newly elected Board of Selectmen Chairman Donald Wong is struggling with some ethical issues that could leave the five-member board a little light during a lot of hearings.During his first full meeting since being elected, Wong was forced to sit out three of the five scheduled public hearings and he excused himself from another issue regarding Jin Asian Cuisine, because he felt it might be a conflict of interest.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said he felt Wong was simply erring on the side of caution and not setting a precedent.Following his election, Wong said he sent a letter to the state’s Ethics Commission asking for a detailed report on what issues he could and could not participate in due to the nature of his business.He said Tuesday that until he received that letter he would prefer to excuse himself from any restaurant-related hearings. He said the night of the election he also preferred not to discuss the issue until he heard from the commission.Liquor, common victuallers and entertainment licenses, along with issues dealing with restaurants such as changes in management and requests for grease traps waivers, are very much a part of what the Board of Selectmen do, but Town Counsel John Vasapolli said it is not all the board does.”It’s really a small part of what they do,” he said. “Licensing, permits, manager matters, those are the bigger things.”Vasapolli said he also thought Tuesday’s meeting that contained four restaurant related issues was a rarity.”I think it’s unusual to have three issues on the same night,” he said, adding that the board faced a similar dilemma when Robert Lavoie of Ballard’s Restaurant was elected.”The issue is, does he have a financial interest in the matter,” Vasapolli said. “If it involves a liquor license that is clearly a conflict.”Actually Vasapolli said if the liquor license were for a restaurant, it would clearly be a conflict but if it were for a package store, perhaps not. That’s where a ruling from the Ethics Commission will prove helpful.Vasapolli said Wong spoke with him about the possible conflicts before he even launched his campaign.”I know he requested a opinion from the Ethics Commission,” he said. “The Ethics Commission will further define what he can and can’t vote on . . . and he will follow whatever the state law says.”Bisignani said he also believed that when the Ethics Commission ruled it would likely show greater latitude than most believe it would.”He is being cautious now, and I think that is a wise thing to do, but he’ll be fine,” he said.