Bragdon to be Investigated for Ethics Violation

The state’s Legislative Ethics Committee will look into whether former state Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, used his public office to land the position of executive director at the Local Government Center, according to WMUR-TV and the Associated Press.

Bragdon was hired to lead the embattled organization in August and then later, after political pressures arose from both sides of the aisle, stepped down from the presidency. Chuck Morse took over as Senate President on Sept. 3.

Bragdon has denied any conflict in getting the $180,000 a year job and has said he would rescue himself from any potential votes that might lead be in conflict. Watrous, however, requested the committee look into whether or not Bragdon violated ethics rules before being hired in the first place, and the committee voted to investigate the issue on Oct. 28.

In a statement, Bragdon said he was “confident" that he "followed the pertinent laws in this matter,” adding that any legislator can file a complaint against another legislator.

“The record will clearly show that I was hired to provide organizational leadership to HealthTrust, Inc. and not to try to influence legislation,” Bragdon said in an email. “I have stated numerous times that I will recuse myself from any legislation related to RSA 5-B risk pools, and it is well documented that the matter was made clear to my employer prior to my hiring.”

Watrous did not return requests for comment.

In the past, Watrous has filed other complaints against public officials about potential conflicts of interest, mostly at the city level.

In 2012, he filed complaints with the Board of Ethics about Concord Mayor Jim Bouley and At-Large Councilor Dan St. Hilaire for failing to disclose potential conflicts in their handling of the complaint against City Councilor and state Rep. Dick Patten, D-Concord, involving a traffic ticket received by a friend. The Board of Ethics dismissed the complaints. Watrous has also called on Bouley to recuse himself of dealings with Steve Duprey, a prominent Concord developer who was leasing office space to Bouley’s lobbying firm.

In 2011, Watrous filed complaints against School Board President Kass Ardinger and then-board member Jack Dunn who were involved in campaigning against a charter commission’s recommendations to change the way school board members were elected. The complaint resulted Dunn being cited by the attorney general. Dunn was later hired to be the business administrator for the school district.

Watrous also filed complaints against Concord school officials in 2009, after it was revealed that they secretly met with state Sen. Sylvia Larsen, D-Concord, to change legislation that was approved by the House that he co-authored. The legislation would have allowed residents to vote on school bonding projects greater than $5 million as well as other reform provisions. The inquiry led to John Teague, of Upton & Hatfield, a school district attorney, being cited in 2010 by the attorney general for a lobbying violation.