Ethics Commission Fines Chelmsford's McClure $5,000

Massachusetts' Ethics Commission has found former Chelmsford Planning Board member Richard McClure in violation of the conflict of interest in two separate lawsuits, the Lowell Sun reports. 

As a result, McClure has been fined $5,000 by the state. 

"By his actions in commencing and continuing to serve as a private attorney in the Recall and Fair Street lawsuits, McClure placed himself in situations where the interests of and his duties to his private clients and his employing municipality were in conflict, and, in each case, he chose his duties to his clients and their interests over his duties to the Town and its interests ," the Ethics Commission wrote in its ruling.

McClure was elected to Chelmsford's Planning Board in 2011, making him a municipal employee in the state's conflict of interest law. 

"Although McClure could have ended the conflict of interest by either resigning from the Planning Board or by ceasing to act as agent or attorney for the plaintiffs in connection with the recall lawsuit, he did neither," the Lowell Sun article said.