Ethics Commission accuses retired MBTA manager of violating conflict of interest law

The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission publicly accused a retired MBTA official of violating the state's conflict of interest law in an Order to Show Cause on Tuesday.
The commission alleges that former Environmental Compliance Manager Thomas Daly — who retired in January 2024 — unfairly favored his friend's recycling company during selection processes for awarding MBTA contracts and work orders, it announced in a press release.
The commission alleges that Daly and the recycling company owner have been friends since at least 2017, and that the company also employed Daly since at least 2019. In 2017, Daly is alleged to have sent his friend technical specifications for a Request for Proposals (RFP) the MBTA planned to send for a comprehensive waste management program.
After the MBTA issued the RFP in 2019, Daly served on its selection committee and inflated his bid evaluation scores for his friend's company, giving it an unfair advantage, the commission alleges. The MBTA ultimately awarded Daly's friend's company a three-year contract worth $1.3 million per year.
Daly then helped the MBTA procure a successor waste management program that would go into effect when his friend's company's contract expired in June 2024. The commission alleges that he once again worked to unfairly advantage his friend's company during the selection process for this program.
Daly also gave his friend other companies' responses to a 2022 RFP for the disposal of Orange Line cars and a 2023 Request for Information for MBTA 'waste-recycle management,' according to the commission.
Finally, Daly is alleged to have recommended his friend's company to the MBTA's procurement manager for a rubber disposal project. The MBTA ultimately awarded the company a $16,000 work order for the project.
The commission will schedule a public hearing to address the allegations against Daly within 90 days. It can impose a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation of the conflict of interest law.
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