In an apparent move to thwart any early-term slipups, Gov. Deval Patrick has put his staff on notice to watch out for possible conflicts with his former employers and a politically wired Hub law firm that employs his wife.
Patrick sent out a memo last week alerting his administration to beware of potential ethics issues when dealing with Coca-Cola, Reebok, ACC Capital and Ropes & Gray. Patrick was a former top attorney at Coca-Cola and was on the boards of directors at Reebok and ACC Capital, a division of embattled mortgage lender Ameriquest. His wife, Diane, is a partner at Ropes & Gray.
The memo is part of a proactive effort to head off any potential conflicts, but there are no specific ethics issues in mind, said Patrick's chief counsel, Ben Clements.
``We have no idea of the types of things that might come before the governor, but we want to be aware to see if there may be any steps that ought to be taken,'' Clements said. ``This is a general cautionary, careful approach.''
......
In addition to the memo, all staffers were required by Patrick to attend ethics training.
``The governor is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards within his administration and expects his staff to do the same,'' said Patrick spokeswoman Cyndi Roy.
Perhaps Deval should have attended the training. He could have benefited from it.
