Cambridge considers fee for filing complaints against council

CAMBRIDGE — There may soon be a fee for residents who want to file complaints about city council to the integrity commissioner.

“In my opinion, your worship, some of these complaints are frivolous,” Coun. Frank Monteiro said to Mayor Doug Craig about the motion he introduced at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“The reason I’m introducing this is to stop this.”

Council deferred a decision to approve the motion so city staff can get more information about how many other cities require fees for complaints. Right now, the process is free and accessible through the city’s website.

The appointed commissioner investigates complaints of politicians violating council’s code of conduct. The code was approved last year and was a first for Cambridge. An integrity commissioner was hired shortly after.

Monteiro suggested a system where a fee would be refunded if the complaint results in a formal investigation. If the complaint turns out to be a petty one, the money would be kept and donated to the Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank.

Not everyone on council agreed this was a fair idea.

“People who don’t have a lot of money might be deterred from filing a legitimate complaint,” Coun. Jan Liggett said.

Craig suggested deferring the motion so city staff can investigate fees. He also suggested a meeting with the integrity commissioner to find out if there is a way to “filter” complaints that are not made in good faith.

“I’m uncomfortable about what this is all about and where this is going,” he said. Monteiro rejected the idea of a deferral. “We have to make a decision. Other places have this,” he said. “Yes, somebody complained about me and it is frivolous.”

City staff confirmed there are two ongoing investigations into council members.

“The integrity commissioner gets to decide what’s frivolous,” Liggett responded.

A deferral on the motion narrowly passed with a 5-4 vote and a report is expected to return to council next month.

In just over a year, the city has spent $9,000 on integrity commissioner complaints. The mayor was the subject of two complaints that cost a total of $7,500. He was cleared of both.

Informal reports that did not become formal investigations cost the city $1,500.

There was no charge for a harassment complaint against Coun. Mike Devine last year because the report took longer than expected, city staff said.

He was found to have violated council’s code of conduct when he called a resident a “sexy gramma” at a public event and was given a public reprimand.

Agree Inc. is the city’s new integrity commissioner, hired after ADR Chambers left for an undisclosed reason. Agree Inc. charges the city $90 an hour for intake work and $275 an hour for investigative work.

The city solicitor told council on Tuesday that there aren’t many municipalities that require fees for filing complaints.

Hamilton is one of them. A $100 fee is refunded if a report is filed by the integrity commissioner. It is not returned if a complaint is found to be “frivolous” or “vexatious,” according to the city’s website.