Mayor Daniel Bianchi, seen here at City Council meeting earlier this year, has rejected claims he might profit from Kinder Morgan's pipeline.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Daniel Bianchi is rejecting claims he has committed an ethics violation by publicly supporting the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.

 

Local environmental activist Michael Muadin says Bianchi's affiliation with Global Montello, which has had supplier agreements with the Kinder Morgan and its subsidiaries for years, represents a conflict of interest with regard to his political support of their controversial proposed Northeast Energy Direct Project. 

 

"He remains in bed with the energy industry that is trying to force this pipeline on the people and their land," Muadin said in a statement.  "He needs to immediately recuse himself from any formal executive actions related to this pipeline."

 

 

As part of his argument, Muadin points to documents highlighting the business relationship between Kinder Morgan and Global, for whom Bianchi worked for many years prior to beginning as mayor in 2012, and for whom he is still listed as an account manager.  Bianchi says he still reviews contracts once in a while.

 

The mayor's working relationship with the firm has been the subject of some criticism recently, particularly by vocal Bianchi opponent Councilor Barry Clairmont, who has urged for tightening restrictions on outside employment by mayors. The concept was previously debated by the committee that drafted the city's new charter approved by voters last year. While specifying the mayoral position to be full time, the committee decided not to preclude other employment, as long as it was not another job in local government. 

 

Muadin's statement, which precedes a formal ethics complaint from the Berkshire Environmental Action Team that he and Executive Director Jane Winn intend to file, asks Bianchi to "immediately and publicly disclose the exact nature of his relationship with Global Montello, whether or not any communications concerning the pipeline, verbal or written, have passed between himself and Global."  

 

Muadin further demands that the mayor "disclose any compensation he is receiving from Global Montello and any other consideration, including stocks and stock options, that he may hold with the company."

 

Bianchi acknowledged that Global, which deals primarily with oil, also does business with the natural gas giant. 

 

"Everybody and anybody who does business in natural gas [locally] obviously uses Berkshire Gas lines, uses Kinder Morgan, because those are the only ones around," said Bianchi.

 

Bianchi said he only does occasional work for Global; his name is still listed under Global at 100 North St.

Bianchi said this had no influence on his endorsement of the pipeline proposal, which he urged the City Council to support last month, citing a need to bring energy costs down for local commerce. He called any suggestion that he personally would benefit financially from support of the project "absolutely silly."  

 

"There have been absolutely no discussions between Global and myself relative to Kinder Morgan," he told iBerkshires.

 

On Monday, the administration filed a Disclosure of Appearance of Conflict of Interest, further documenting the mayor's position.

 

"I have no affiliation or relationship with Kinder Morgan," Bianchi's statement reads. "I do perform some consulting work for a company called Global Montello Group, but my consulting work is not being performed on city time nor does it enhance or hinder the ability of Kinder Morgan to lay a pipeline in the City of Pittsfield."