'Matter closed.' Cape DA cites ethics commission agreement as end of U-turn controversy
Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois has been fined $5,000 for violating the conflict of interest law in two incidents, according to the State Ethics Commission.
Galibois used "public resources to attempt to cast himself in a a favorable public light after he was involved in a motor vehicle accident and to promote a campaign donor’s rental apartments to office staff," according to a statement from the commission.
A core principle of the conflict of interest law is that "public resources, such as public agency media releases, email, and staff worktime, must not be used to further private interests," State Ethics Commission Executive Director David A. Wilson said in the statement.
'Further his own private interests'
"District Attorney Galibois failed to uphold this principle when he used the resources of his office to further his own private interests and those of a donor to his election campaign," said Wilson.
Galibois has signed a disposition agreement admitting the violations and waiving his right to a hearing. He has also paid the civil penalty, according to the commission.
An illegal U-turn
On Feb. 23, 2023, Galibois was involved in an accident while making an illegal U-turn in his state vehicle. Barnstable police issued him a warning for the improper turn, a marked lanes violation, and failure to file an accident report.
"In response to the news media attention drawn by the accident, Galibois directed his Second Assistant DA to draft a press release. The press release, issued on DA’s Office letterhead, was designed to turn the public narrative of the accident in Galibois’ favor," reads the statement from the State Ethics Commission.
Campaign donor offers rental housing
In a separate instance also in February 2023, a campaign donor texted Galibois that he wanted to offer some of his rental apartments to the district attorney's office staff before publicly advertising them.
"Galibois then sent an office-wide email informing his staff of the available apartments and offering to provide the donor’s contact information to anyone interested. Galibois subsequently referred two of his Assistant DAs to the donor," according to the commission.
In a statement, Galibois said that he had circulated the housing opportunity to his staff through email knowing some employees were having difficulty looking for housing.
"The Ethics Commission found that I should not have used my office email as my action gave my staff advantage in the housing market," said Galibois. "As is noted in the disposition agreement, I did not expect to receive nor did I receive any financial or other benefit as a result of the email I sent to my staff."
He also noted that he had directed staff to issue a press release to "correct and clarify the circumstances of a so-called car accident in which I was involved."
"I have reached an agreement with the Ethic Commission with regard to their findings. They and I consider these matters closed. Nonetheless, I wanted to make you aware," wrote Galibois.
Galibois was first elected in 2022.
Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on X @zanerazz.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Illegal U-turn, housing advantage cited in Galibois ethics errors
