Turnpike committee boss scolded

PORTLAND – Maine Turnpike Authority Chairman Julian Coles should have tried harder to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest when the panel voted for a new interchange near a moving business he owns, an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office concluded.

Coles did not engage in an actual conflict of interest, but he violated a provision of state law requiring him to take pains to even avoid the appearance of a conflict, Attorney General Andrew Ketterer said Friday.

The conflict-of-interest provision that Cole violated does not provide for sanctions or penalties, Ketterer said.

In his response, Coles said he plans to retire from the authority within a few months now that that a cloud has been removed by his exoneration of the accusation that he somehow benefited by the authority’s dealings.

“The attorney general has confirmed what I said all along – that the allegations I somehow manipulated the turnpike exit selection process or somehow profited from any decisions made by the turnpike authority are totally groundless,” he told reporters in Portland.

At a news conference in Augusta, Ketterer scolded Coles for not recognizing an “obvious” appearance of a conflict when the authority voted in November 1994 to accept a committee’s recommendation of a new exit.

“In hindsight, I would say it’s ‘obvious,’ and I wish I had seen it as being obvious” at the time, Coles responded. He characterized the violation for an appearance of a conflict as a “technicality.”

The turnpike authority began planning the new exit in 1983. Coles was named to the authority board in 1989.

Coles, whose business is located in an industrial park that was expanding in anticipation of the interchange, participated in proceedings related to the interchanges several times between 1990 and 1999.

During that time, Coles’ business also expanded, and he purchased a 3-acre parcel in the Pine Tree Industrial Park in 1987 and an 8-acre parcel across the street in 1995. He also built warehouses.

Coles’ business, Allen & Coles Moving Systems, already has convenient access to the Maine Turnpike at Exit 8, but the business also will benefit from having another exit as an option.

Because of the appearance of a conflict, Coles should have abstained from the activities surrounding the interchange proposal or, at the least, he should have made a formal disclosure of his interests in the Pine Tree Industrial Park and asked for guidance, Ketterer said.