Ethics rules bar Wellesley firefighters from cruise; Boston Globe, 1/16/14

Jaclyn Reiss, Boston Globe; Ethics rules bar Wellesley firefighters from cruise: "The four Wellesley firefighters who received Caribbean cruise tickets from Ellen DeGeneres this week for a dramatic dog rescue had to decline the trip because state ethics law prohibits them from accepting gifts worth $50 or more. “It was a nice gesture on Ellen’s part, and the firefighters were surprised by that, but state statute is very clear, so we FedExed the vouchers back to the Ellen show,” said Wellesley Fire Chief Richard DeLorie. DeGeneres gave Wellesley Fire Captain Jim Dennehy, Lieutenant Paul Delaney, Dave Papazian, and Joan Cullinan the cruise tickets this week after she feted them on her show for rescuing a golden retriever named Crosby from an icy Charles River last month... DeGeneres also bestowed monogrammed bedazzled orange life vests to the firefighters, including a doggie vest for Crosby. DeLorie said the firefighters are allowed to keep the life vests, since they are considered a novelty item with no value other than sentimental... State law prohibits officials from accepting gifts worth $50 or more because of something they have done in their official job capacity, including payment of travel expenses, which the cruise would probably have fallen under. However, the department allowed the show to pay for their plane tickets to California for the show’s taping. DeLorie, who is the appointed authority to decide on such matters in his department, said he had to pore over disclosure forms from his firefighters before agreeing that accepting the flights was legal. He cited exemptions to the state ethics law, noting that it might be legal to accept a gift if it if a gift does not provide a conflict of interest and proves to advance public interest. “In this case, these guys were flying out Sunday and coming home right after the taping on Monday night,” DeLorie said. “That’s not a pleasure trip; that’s to promote a good public service story. and that met the test, in my opinion, that it was for more public than private benefit.”"