Turtleboy Investigates

Major Ethics Violation: Tracy Crowe Is Paying (Bribing) Kevin Hayes To Do Work On Her House So That She Will Remain Employed As Superintendent

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In 2000 the State Ethics Commission fined then Spencer Selectman Kevin Hayes $1,000 for using his position as a selectman to try to intimidate a police officer in order to keep him from writing Hayes a speeding ticket. We blogged about it here, even though it was old news because we wanted to establish a pattern – Kevin Hayes frequently uses his position of authority for financial benefit and flagrantly violates Massachusetts Ethics Laws.

Here is a link to the Massachusetts summary of conflict of interest law for municipal employees. Here’s a couple highlights:

Example of violation : A school committee member’s wife is a teacher in the town’s public schools. The school committee member votes on the budget line item for teachers’ salaries.
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Kevin Hayes serves on the SEBRSD School Committee. Kevin Hayes negotiates the teacher’s contract and held a hard line during negotiations, refusing to even speak with Union President Mark James. Soon afterwards Kevin Hayes began an investigation of David Prouty Athletic Director Chuck Fahey, which has been going on for over 8 months without any of the results being made public. Since that time Mr. Hayes has used his position to hire a superintendent, who hired a principal, who appointed an interim AD, who appointed his wife to the paid stipend position of field hockey coach (they won zero games under her expert tutelage). The previous AD had passed over his wife for this position. Kevin Hayes thus violated State Ethics laws by essentially firing the AD who wouldn’t hire his wife, and making sure the AD who was appointed in his place would hire his wife. More cash for the Hayes family.

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Here’s how the state defines bribery by municipal employees:

Municipal employees may not accept gifts and gratuities valued at $50 or more given to influence their official actions or because of their official position. Accepting a gift intended to reward past official action or to bring about future official action is illegal, as is giving such gifts. Accepting a gift given to you because of the municipal position you hold is also illegal. Meals, entertainment event tickets, golf, gift baskets, and payment of travel expenses can all be illegal gifts if given in connection with official action or position, as can anything worth $50 or more. A number of smaller gifts together worth $50 or more may also violate these sections.

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Kevin Hayes is Superintendent Nadine “Tracy” Crowe’s boss. He hired her, he evaluates her, and he has the ability to fire her. Obviously then he would be prohibited from accepting money from her. Well, as it so happens Tracy Crowe has bought a lot of property in Massachusetts, most recently on May 4, 2015 she purchased property at 11 Tanglewood Rd in Leicester:

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The problem is the house is in need of some major renovations.

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And as it just so happens to be Kevin Hayes has a side job flipping houses. We were tipped off to this situation over 2 months ago and have had people staking out the property. We’ve noticed repeatedly a red truck parked outside on over 10 different occasions:

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Hmmmmmmm….where have I seen that license plate before? Oh yea, at every Spencer-East Brookfield School Committee meeting:

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That’s because it’s Kevin Hayes’ red truck. He’s not a fan of parking in lines because of course rules don’t apply to him. That’s the Superintendent’s Audi parked two spots down. We see she elected not to park in the handicapped spot for once.

The most recent photos are from today but we have people working reconaissance who have seen that truck there on countless occasions. Do we have actual proof that she’s handing him money (over $50)? No. But he’s obviously doing work there. Plus, when you factor in the fact that he has a past history of glaring ethical violations (using his Selectman seat to try to bully a police officer out of a ticket, firing the AD so his wife can get the field hockey stipend), he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt. We understand that he has no morals and no ethics, so he simply cannot be trusted to follow the rules.

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Oh yea, and Tracy Crowe’s not even home right now. She’s in Arizona at a conference. Either way, it’s beyond inappropriate that the School Committee chairman, who is directly responsible for evaluating the superintendent, is spending this much time at her house.

One time we even noticed an electrical truck in the driveway:

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You may notice the name on the truck is Jeffrey Jarmulowicz.

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He’s a local electrician. He also just happens to be Kevin Hayes’ nephew (sister’s son). Thus it appears multiple members of the Hayes family are financially benefitting from the ongoing employment of Tracy Crowe as Superintendent of the SEBRSD.

If these allegations are true (how can they not be?), then it would also mean that Tracy Crowe is guilty of bribery. It would only make too much sense wouldn’t it? The woman is incompetent. She has burned this district to the ground, fired everyone that Hayes told her to fire, hired everyone he told her to hire, and is seemingly the most unpopular person in town. Literally no teachers or parents in the district besides local town yahoo Bob Cirba (Spencer’s version of Old Balls) approves of the job she’s doing.

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Yet she continues to remain employed and has an unprecedented five year contract. No superintendent gets that kind of contract. Well it would certainly make sense now wouldn’t it? She is a never ending cash cow for Kevin Hayes, and in return she gets a highly paid job, with unlimited job security, and a School Committee Chairman who will tell any townsfolk who question her that they won’t be answering any questions.

The bottom line is that parents and teachers have been calling for her resignation for months now. They voted no confidence in her, but then were forced to rescind that in order for her to agree to a new contract. Meanwhile the school is making headlines all across the state after a student sit-in due to countless unfunded school activities and a lack of textbooks, burst pipes and asbestos ceilings falling to the ground due to gross negligence, and a never ending stream of students into other school districts where adults actually care about kids.

No superintendent could ever survive that. Not unless she was bribing the School Committee for a new contract and glowing recommendations. And that appears to be exactly what is happening here.

Kevin Hayes and Tracy Crowe aren’t just bad at their jobs. They’re borderline criminals. They are flagrantly violating State Ethics Laws and consequently the children in these two towns continue to suffer. And they’re doing it because they counted on the fact that no one would look into it.

Well, I get bad news for you tow, the turtle never rests. I’m sure both of them will read this, so let me make myself perfectly clear. You must resign immediately. Not a month from now. We’ll give you one week to get your affairs in order. The evidence is glaring and the more we dig the more we are going to find. This is only going to get uglier. You don’t wanna end up in bracelets. Walk away now while you still have the chance.

Don’t. Poke. The. Turtle.

 

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31 Comment(s)
  • Barton Taragone
    April 18, 2016 at 8:58 am

    Are there permits for this activity pulled with the town of Leicester? NO mention and I don’t see one in the window?

  • hkh
    March 12, 2016 at 11:14 pm

    From 3/12/16 T&G on-line : “Sunshine Week: Access to municipal ethics filings not always easy”

    ” School Committee Chairman Kevin Hayes filed a disclosure recently indicating that he might be offering advice to the school superintendent about contractors she might hire to work on a home she acquired in Leicester. He wrote that he also might do some small projects there, but because he is one vote on a board of seven, it would be difficult to show any favoritism.

    A clerk at the School Department provided copies of that and other disclosures – at a cost – a few days after the request was made.”

    BTW…Where’s the follow up? ” You must resign immediately. Not a month from now. We’ll give you one week to get your affairs in order. The evidence is glaring and the more we dig the more we are going to find. This is only going to get uglier. You don’t wanna end up in bracelets. Walk away now while you still have the chance.’

  • Pewdiepie
    February 18, 2016 at 11:55 pm

    I smell a possible affair between the two. Js

  • UsualSuspect
    UsualSuspect
    February 18, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    Maybe he was parked at her house all those times to make sure the carpet matched the drapes.

    • Fatfinger Lou
      February 18, 2016 at 7:12 pm

      Haha….Zamboni on the monitor

  • DPHS Senior
    February 18, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    Part of Mrs. B’s investigation involved her paying her husband $500 to choreograph the show choir’s entire show. The bill is usually thousands. Anyway, they basically accused her of paying her husband in order to give it back to herself. So, they’re lynching her for that, but Kevin Hayes is the EPITOME of ethics. Okay, Tracy.

  • Nanny
    February 18, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    Libel: to publish in print an untruth about another which will do harm to the person’s reputation by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn, or contempt…Publication need only be to one person, but it must be a statement that claims to be fact and is not clearly identified as an opinion

    source: Law.com legal dictionary

    • Lyle chipperson
      February 18, 2016 at 4:24 pm

      Sorry it was my opinion that his nephews older brother used to sell a lot of drugs to me and and many of my friends in the mid to late 90’s.
      P.s. avatar is spot on!!!

      • is stupid contagious
        February 18, 2016 at 4:46 pm

        so you did drugs in the mid to late 90’s?
        does this make you a piece of shit?
        does that mean you, your brothers, uncles, cousins and children are all pieces of shit?

        in my opinion you should stop smoking crack!

        whats the point of your comment ? Lyle Chipperson?
        you just wanted to let everyone know? let them know that 20 years ago a hard working electrician with nothing to do with this story except was at a jobsite making a living to support his family may or may not have a brother who may or may not have sold you and your friends drugs 20 years ago…….
        great story retard

    • Nanny
      February 18, 2016 at 8:15 pm

      Interesting that some people don’t think that’s the definition of libel.

      Open a book once in a while. Will do you some good. Yeah you.

      🙂

  • Lil richard
    February 18, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    His daughter Christi works in payroll

    • Abby
      February 18, 2016 at 3:16 pm

      Christy is not his daughter

      • Abby
        February 18, 2016 at 4:17 pm

        She also no longer works for Spencer/East Brookfield

  • haha
    February 18, 2016 at 1:03 pm

    “You must resign immediately. Not a month from now. We’ll give you one week to get your affairs in order.”

    Or what, you’ll write another blog with claims that are about as solid as a glass of water? No where in this rambling did you prove that any goods or services were given or received with the intent of receiving special treatment from the school committee (or any individual member). How bout doing that before you puff your chest like a bad ass.

    • Dave P
      February 18, 2016 at 1:26 pm

      This animal walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and smells like a duck. I wish we had some proof that it is a duck.

      • Haha
        February 18, 2016 at 1:53 pm

        Good example, lets work with it…

        You find a new animal. It looks like a duck, it sounds like a duck, and it smells like a duck. Now you present this to any scientist in the field of ornithology and tell them you found a duck, do you know what they will say? They need more information. They will do DNA testing. They would want to look at as many examples of the animal as they can before stamping “duck” on it. All that was presented here was some casual observances that “might” be something bad, but no actual proof of wrong doing. Get some actual proof, then you can demand people resign.

    • Dopefinder
      February 18, 2016 at 3:06 pm

      Who could possibly like this and condone such a blatant violation of a crystal clear regulation? Dopes.

    • Turtle Bro
      February 18, 2016 at 4:23 pm

      I believe the threat is that unless he resigns TB will keep digging until he finds the evidence/proof you demand. It may or may not exist, but the internet is a big place and there’s always a paper trail. Suppose the evidence does exist, then it would probably carry with it criminal implications with a much bigger penalty than just the disgrace of stepping down. Hypothetically, if I knew I was breaking the law, I’d consider getting out of the way if someone was on the trail.

      Either way, the dude is doing a shitty job

    • Under a microscope
      February 18, 2016 at 6:02 pm

      I love this section of the Ethics Laws….

      (f) Appearance of conflict. Acting in a manner that would make a reasonable person think you can be improperly influenced is prohibited. (See Section 23(b)(3))

      A municipal employee may not act in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to think that she would show favor toward someone or that she can be improperly influenced. Section 23(b)(3) requires a municipal employee to consider whether her relationships and affiliations could prevent her from acting fairly and objectively when she performs her duties for a city or town. If she cannot be fair and objective because of a relationship or affiliation, she should not perform her duties. However, a municipal employee, whether elected or appointed, can avoid violating this provision by making a public disclosure of the facts. An appointed employee must make the disclosure in writing to his appointing official.

    • Nanny
      February 18, 2016 at 8:18 pm

      See “Libel” below

      • Under a microscope
        February 19, 2016 at 8:52 pm

        I do not see any “untruths” in this blog. I do see observations and statements connecting the dots.

        IF Crowe is in fact hiring Hayes to do work on a house owned by Crowe, it sure as hell does not pass the smell test. EVERY municipal employee and elected official has to take mandatory ethics training on a regular basis. It’s the law!! And this very subject comes up in the training every time!! This clearly requires the filing a complete and detailed disclosure. By LAW, both should have disclosed the “business” relationship before it started, because any “reasonable” person (and I agree, it may be extremely difficult to find reasonable people in this area) may conclude that Hayes “could” show Crow favoritism if in fact he is receiving compensation to do work on property owned by Crowe.

        Thank God that I have absolutely nothing to do with Spencer, East Brookfield, Hayes and Crowe, but from the outside, this stinks more than all of the shit that is pumped into the Spencer sewer treatment plant on a daily basis!!

  • Lyle chipperson
    February 18, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    Not to mention Hayes other nephew was a big time drug dealer in the mid to late 90’s.

  • What's good
    February 18, 2016 at 10:17 am

    TBS you are a fucking badass. Good job once again for another great expose. Keep up the great work dude.

  • Ser Davos Seaworth
    February 18, 2016 at 10:00 am

    SWEEP THE LEG!

  • Lightbulb
    February 18, 2016 at 9:07 am

    WOW. Awesome. Sweep out the trash, not under the rug.

  • Ml
    February 18, 2016 at 8:01 am

    Not only did his wife get the coaching position for field hockey, but she also got the head coaching position for indoor track! I believe his son is also a custodian in East Brookfield .

  • Deb Mc
    February 18, 2016 at 7:58 am

    I love you TB.

  • kittykicker
    February 18, 2016 at 7:57 am

    Another great piece of investigative journalism. Keep the heat on! And keep up the good work. Zero tolerance for corrupt town or city officials!

  • Reddog
    February 18, 2016 at 1:11 am

    This story is going to blow up. Good job TB. The nerve of these two people to do this in the open is unbelievable. I hope they are brought up on charges

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