Cleared water boss seeks $50K from Revere

REVERE – He won a court fight to clear his name of bribery charges, but city water foreman Joseph Maglione may not succeed in getting the city to cover $50,000 in legal fees.Maglione wants the city to pay legal costs he incurred in retaining William Spallina to represent him before the state Ethics Commission. He also wants to recoup lost overtime pay.?I don?t think the city is liable,” said city Solicitor Paul Capizzi in explaining the city?s position.?The serious allegations were brought by the state, not the city. The city didn?t cause it,” Capizzi said, noting Maglione was suspended from his city job with pay during the Ethics hearings.The commission on Oct. 24 fully exonerated Maglione of conflict of interest charges stemming from bribery allegations brought by two former city workers.Randy Adamson and Anthony Giannino claimed Maglione solicited bribes amounting to $200 for each of the 25 drain laying jobs they did. The commission found the claims “not entirely credible.”During five days of testimony in the late winter and spring, commission deputy chief Karen Gray and Spallina questioned a “who?s who” of City Hall officials about the pair?s allegations.The streets where Adamson and Giannino did drain work included Sagamore, Oxford, Sewall, Harrington, Cheever, Essex, Pearl and Centennial streets and George Avenue, according to commission testimony.The city is waiting for the state auditor to release a report on Public Works? inventory practices.